Major Problems

by asmariamoon

Chapter 16: Pines and Needles

Trixie enjoyed Pinkie's party very much, but before she knew it, it was nearing six, and she didn't want Honey Dew to have to walk home alone, so she offered to walk with her. Twilight wanted to come with, but she had too many things to do at the library, so she headed over there after giving Trixie a kiss good night. Trixie was sad that Twilight couldn't join her, but she was also kind of glad as well, as she wanted to have a one-on-one talk with Pine Needle, Honey Dew's mother, and having Twilight around wasn't one-on-one. Plus, if what Honey Dew said about Pine Needle were true, she was just scared, and being outnumbered would only make her more scared.

Honey Dew chattered excitedly about how fun the party had been as they walked, and Trixie threw in a halfhearted "Uh-huh." or "Yep." every now and then, her mind obviously somewhere else. "Miss Trixie, are you ignoring me?" Honey Dew asked when she noticed.

"Uh-huh." Trixie said without thinking about it, or even noticing that the filly had addressed her directly.

"Really?" Honey Dew asked, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.

"Yep." Trixie said, again without really having heard the question. Honey Dew began to sob, and that finally pulled Trixie out of her stupor. "Hey! Honey Dew, what's wrong?" she asked, trying to console the upset filly.

"You... y-you said... you.... were ignoring.... me!" Honey Dew cried between sobs.

"Trixie did? She is sorry, Honey Dew, she wasn't ignoring you, she just wasn't paying attention when she should have been. Trixie was caught up in thinking how she can get your mother to learn that there is nothing to fear from Trixie. She is sorry for spacing out like that, and making you think she was ignoring you purposefully." Trixie said. Trixie put a hoof under the young filly's chin, lifting it up so she could look Honey Dew directly in the eye. "As far as Trixie is concerned, you are her number two fan, right after Twilight, and Trixie always values what you have to say, and would never ignore you. If you see Trixie acting like that again, just yell her name, and she'll snap out of it."

"O-okay, Miss Trixie." Honey Dew said, still sniffling a little, but drying her eyes with a hoof and smiling up at her idol.

Honey Dew continued walking home, and Trixie followed. Before Trixie knew it, Honey Dew said, "This is my house." It was a large, two-story building with a fence surrounding the huge yard on which it was centered. The yard was dotted with hundreds of pine trees. Honey Dew opened the door and walked inside, yelling out, "Mommy! I'm home!" Trixie stayed just outside the door.

"Ah, Honey Dew, welcome home! Dinner is almost ready, and..." Pine Needle started as she walked into the room, before spotting Trixie by the door. "What the hay are you doing here?" Pine Needle asked, glaring daggers at Trixie.

"Miss... Pine Needle, is Trixie correct?" Trixie asked, wanting to confirm the name her friends had given her for the mare. Pine Needle nodded, not taking her eyes off of Trixie. "Trixie would like to have a one-on-one chat with you."

"Okay..." Pine Needle said, unsure of what Trixie was getting at. "Honey Dew, why don't you go play in your room. Mommy's going to have a talk with Trixie." she said.

"Okay, Mommy! I'll see you later, Miss Trixie." Honey Dew said.

"Have fun, Honey Dew." Trixie said as Honey Dew climbed the stairs to her room

As soon as Pine Needle knew Honey Dew was out of hearing range, she asked, "Now then, what's this about, Trixie?"

"Do you mind if Trixie comes in? This might take a while." Trixie said.

"Please, by all means, come in, have a seat, make yourself right the buck at home." Pine Needle said, a dangerous sharpness to her voice. Trixie hesitantly put a hoof over the doorframe and in the house, but when Pine Needle showed no signs of getting any madder, Trixie relaxed and stepped inside, closing the door. Pine Needle led the way out of the foyer, which included many seats for customers and a service desk with a register, and into the living room, sighing as she flopped into a recliner. Trixie took a seat on the couch opposite her, looking around herself. Pine Needle had a rather spacious living room, with a fireplace to one side of the room and a large bookshelf opposite it. There was a half-wall separating the living room from the kitchen, which was behind Pine Needle's recliner. Positioned between the seats the two mares now occupied was a long coffee table. "Now, what's this about? What, turning my daughter into a coatlicker didn't work, so now you're gonna try turning me into one?" Pine needle asked, and Trixie flinched at the heavily-offensive word Pine Needle had used for mares like her.

"Please, Pine Needle, you must understand that Trixie has no intention of turning anypony towards her way of thinking. Trixie already has a marefriend, she does not need any more. She merely wishes to assure you that you have nothing to fear from Trixie and Twilight." Trixie said.

Pine Needle blanched at this. "Fear?" she asked, giving out a laugh that didn't hide her fright very well. "Who said I was afraid of you?" she asked nervously.

"Honey Dew did, and Trixie knows that she is a sweet filly who would never lie about something like that." Trixie said. "That is how Trixie knows that you can't be as hateful as you make yourself look to be." she finished.

"All right, so I'm afraid. Who wouldn't be? Some strange showmare with a history of being involved in trouble comes strolling into town, and all of the sudden, not even a week later, I see the last pony I ever thought would like anypony like that, let alone another mare, snuggling her up out in public, and in broad daylight no less." Pine Needle said. "I'm scared, all right? Scared that you might do to my filly whatever you've done to Twilight. I mean, what's next from you two? Exhibitionism?" Pine Needle asked.

"Trixie has done nothing to Twilight. Twilight came to discover her attraction towards Trixie without Trixie's help. And you make our innocent snuggling sound like some horridly obscene act. Also, Trixie refuses to even dignify that last comment with a response. For your information, Trixie is still a virgin, and would never even consider doing such a thing in public." Trixie said.

"But I thought that all of you marelovers were supposed to be be whorses who would do anything to get some coat." Pine Needle said, confused.

"All right, Trixie is going to pretend that you didn't just basically call her a whorse. Ignore everything you think you know about sapphic mares. All that stuff that the upper class says in order to spread hate? Put it all out of your mind. Does Trixie look like the kind of pony who would do that in public?" Trixie asked.

Trixie had to give Pine Needle credit, she looked like she was really trying to complete the task Trixie had given her and look at her without thinking about all the prejudice against mares who loved other mares. Trixie could almost hear the gears turning in Pine Needle's head. "No, Trixie, you don't look like that kind of pony." Pine Needle answered.

"Good, then we are making progress. Now, continuing along those lines, does Trixie look like the kind of pony who wants to trick little fillies into being exactly like her?" Trixie asked. She watched closely as Pine Needle thought this answer over as well.

"Well, no, but... let's be honest, child molesters rarely advertise themselves as such. A mother can never be too careful." Pine Needle said.

"You have a point, but let's think about this logically. Let's say, hypothetically, that there was a traveling stage magician who was also a child molester. Why would she choose to stop in one specific town and continue her horrid practices? Doesn't it make more sense for this hypothetical mare to stay on the road, where the law will have a harder time tracking her down?" Trixie asked.

Pine Needle was once again thinking hard before answering the question. "I suppose that makes sense. Maybe you're right. Perhaps I'm being far too paranoid when it comes to you and Twilight." Pine Needle said.

Trixie smiled as Pine Needle said this. Was she finally seeing that Trixie wasn't some horrible monster? Was she realizing that being sapphic did not make you some sort of creature sent from the moon to corrupt everypony in town? Trixie certainly hoped so. She didn't like hatred. Sure, she had grown used to it over the years, all the neighsayers at her shows clearly either hated her or were jealous of her powers. She still preferred to think it was the latter though. Everypony knew what happened when you hated somepony. The story of what happened the last time enough hatred had amassed in one place was told each Hearth's Warming Eve in theaters across Equestria. She couldn't even manage to fight off an Ursa Minor. There was no question how she would fare against a trio of Wendigos, creatures that even Star Swirl the Bearded's most powerful student, Clover the Clever, couldn't fight without the help of her new friends.

Pine Needle looked at Trixie, who was smiling, but seemed to be lost in thought. She cleared her throat loudly, and Trixie's thoughts were pulled back into the present. "I suppose apologies are in order from me. I'm sorry I was so hurtful towards you and your marefriend, Trixie. Can you ever forgive me?" Pine Needle asked.

"Do not worry, Pine Needle. Trixie already has forgiven you. She understands that you were only saying such things out of fear, and you were trying to protect your little filly and yourself from what you thought was a threat. Trixie only asks that you promise her one thing." Trixie said.

"Yes?" Pine Needle asked. Trixie could tell there was a bit of fear in her voice, but it was much subdued.

"The next time you meet somepony who seems horrid, take another look, while trying to put all the prejudices high society tries to force on us out of your mind. If they still seem horrid, by all means, protect yourself. But if they don't still seem horrid, reach out to them. Try to get to know them and make friends with them. Because chances are, they don't have many friends." Trixie said.

"I promise. But that doesn't mean that we'll be instant best friends. It just means that I'll give them a chance to prove themselves as a good pony. Just like I'm giving you that chance now." Pine Needle said, smiling a little.

"Trixie appreciates that you are giving her that chance. Not many ponies that start out hating Trixie would do that for her." Trixie said, smiling back at Pine Needle. Trixie hoped that she could prove her worth to Pine Needle and earn her friendship.

Trixie walked over to Twilight's library, wanting to spend at least a little more time with her marefriend, and tell her how well her talk with Pine Needle had gone. The lights were still on inside, meaning that Twilight was either still awake, or had fallen asleep while researching something, probably the first, since it was still only a couple hours after sunset, and Twilight was used to pulling long nights. Trixie gently knocked on the door, as Twilight would most likely be in the main room where she could hear it, and if Spike was sleeping, she didn't want to wake him up.

"Coming!" Twilight called softly from the other side of the door, before it was wrapped in a magenta telekinesis field and swung open. "Oh, hello, Trixie!" the purple mare said, greeting Trixie with a deep kiss. "How did things go with Pine Needle?" she asked.

"A lot better than Trixie expected. She doesn't fear Trixie anymore, and has decided to give her a chance to prove herself worthy of friendship. Trixie only hopes that she doesn't screw it up." Trixie said.

"How would you screw it up, sweetie?" Twilight asked, and Trixie's ears twitched in delight as she realized the purple mare had used the word "sweetie" for her.

"Trixie knows that she can be more abrasive than Rainbow Dash at times. Like the day of the Ursa attack, or at Trixie's announcement to the town, when she was calling your friends horrible things, or with Diamond Tiara." Trixie said, hanging her head low. Twilight put a hoof under Trixie's chin and gently guided Trixie's face up so that the blue mare's gaze met her own.

"I'm sure that you'll do fine, Trixie, and before you know it, Pine Needle will consider you one of her best friends. You know how I know?" Twilight asked, and Trixie shook her head softly. "Because you are a truly Great and Powerful mare, one who is worthy of everypony's friendship." Twilight said.

"Thank you, Twilight. Sorry if Trixie was getting a little bit depressed, that happens to her sometimes." Trixie said.

"Don't be sorry, Trixie. Everypony gets depressed sometimes. I'm just glad I could help you out of it. After all, what are marefriends for?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, Trixie doesn't know, perhaps they're for this." Trixie said, wrapping her forehooves around the back of Twilight's neck and pulling her into a deep kiss. Twilight sank into Trixie's warm embrace and kissed her back just as deeply. When they finally parted, Twilight took the opportunity to nuzzle up against Trixie's cheek. Trixie smiled widely as she nuzzled Twilight back, then brought her head up to lick softly on the tip of the nerdy unicorn's ear. The purple mare let out a gasp, and then a soft moan as Trixie began nibbling on her ear.

"Mmmmmmm, Trixie..." Twilight said, nickering softly

"Yes, Twilight?" Trixie asked, a wide smirk on her face.

"W-would the Great and P-powerful Trixie be s-so kind as to g-grace me with her p-presence tonight?" the bookish mare asked, stuttering as her mind was assaulted by the feeling of having Trixie nibbling on her ear continuously.

Trixie grinned as she heard Twilight's request, and gave a few more nibbles before whispering in Twilight's ear. "It would be Trixie's pleasure." she said.

Author's Notes: I'm so sorry this one took me so long, I don't know why I was procrastinating so much. I got stuck so often in this one, it was giving me a lot of trouble. So we have Pine Needle not being so much of a scaredypony anymore, which is good.

Also, for those who haven't seen it, I'm also working on a different story, a Dr. Adorable fanfic, which you can find here.