//------------------------------// // Making Yourself at Home // Story: Pennington's Trix // by Pennington Inkwell //------------------------------// After a week, Trixie and Pennington had fallen into a routine. She would wake up in the morning and either find him asleep on the couch or reclined in the chair in his study, refusing to move after a long night of writing. She would shake him awake and the two of them would have breakfast. Surprisingly, after a few days, he revealed that he actually didn't survive solely off of ramen, as she believed. He actually kept salads and other ingredients in high cupboards, and had a shockingly strong supply of lemonade in his refrigerator. After breakfast, Pennington would lock himself in his study and leave Trixie to tend to the counter out front, waiting for customers. Whenever one walked in, she would follow a set of instructions that Pennington had given her: to go and knock on his door. He would undo all of the locks and emerge without a word, obviously in some kind of deep "author zone." He would tend to the customer, and she would write up a short summary of their order, including a small multitude of criteria such as character, conflict, climax, and summary of the plot. It turned out, Pennington was a writer-for-hire, allowing ponies to pay him for his talent with words when they just couldn't figure out what to say. After they had placed their order, Trixie was surprised to see Pennington let them go without paying, claiming that they could pay him after their orders had been filled. After they left, Pennington would thank Trixie, lock himself in his study again, and go back to writing his novel. If a customer simply came to buy an already-published book, she would ring it up herself on the register. Occasionally, she would hear him calling her name from the study. She would open the door to reveal him sitting at his desk, waving at her to come closer. When she did, he would ask for her to bring him either more scrolls or more ink. She would always roll her eyes and leave, returning with the supplies. At the end of the day, she would turn the "open" sign around, lock the front door, and knock on his study again, signaling that it was time for him to take a short break after working for an entire day. Sometimes he would come out, and sometimes she would simply have to roll her eyes and fix herself a salad for dinner. Then, after eating, the two would talk for a short time, often about the things that they had seen and the experiences they'd had over the years. "The breath-holding?" Pennington had laughed when Trixie had asked him about the final contest. "A trick I learned while helping with an underwater archaeological dig. Even with scuba gear, it helps to be able to hold your breath for a long time." Trixie was surprised at how nonchalantly he mentioned this, along with talking about traveling to Saddle Arabia, Stalliongrad Prison, and even deep in the Everfree Forest. In return, she told him about seeing the sights of Equestria from her travelling stage. She was surprised at how much Pennington understood what it was like to feel the need to travel. They both talked about how it felt not to want to stay in one place, the hunger to see things that they had never seen before, and the sensation of walking in unfamiliar places. As they talked more and more, Trixie began to wonder how the author had been in so many places. "Well, I actually went traveling after I finished school. My best friend and I travelled across the country by train for a month and we decided to see everything that we ever wanted to. We basically blew all of the profits from my first book on that trip, but it was worth it." "Who did you travel with?" She asked, curious about who would go on such a an adventure with him. "Lily Ixia." Pennington had smiled as the took a long sip of the broth from his ramen, apparently lost in a flashback. "She and I grew up together here, and she was the only one who would be willing to go along with such a 'crazy scheme,' as she called it. So, after we graduated, we jumped on the first train out of town and set off on an adventure!" He chuckled at this point, shaking his head. "I wanted to explore, and she was just the tourist along for the ride." Trixie tilted her head in confusion. "You were traveling with a mare? Were the two of you..." "Oh, no! No." Pennington held up his hooves in surprised denial. "A lot of ponies thought we were, but it just wasn't meant to be... She wanted a life that was predictable and steady, but I wanted more than that, so the two of us agreed to just stay friends." Trixie had nodded in understanding, feeling a connection to him that hadn't been there before. Not only was he kind, but he was a kindred spirit, always moving, never wanting to stop. Somehow, though, being around Pennington made that desire go away. She wanted to stay, but only if Pennington was there. After dinner, Trixie would always have the evening to herself, to do as she wished. Sometimes she would simply go straight to bed, sometimes she would stay up practicing her magic. On a few precious nights, she would stay with Pennington in his study, laying by the fire and listening to the scratching of his quill mingling with the crackling and popping of the flames. The entire thing had a very soothing effect on her, and she would often doze for some time before Pennington would quietly mention that she should go to bed. She would nod and sleepily walk out of the room, feeling at a strange sort of peace. On this night, however, Trixie had decided to take up a hobby that she had practiced on the road before her humiliation. With a smile, she closed the door to the stairwell, knowing that Pennington was deeply involved in his work at the time, and would most likely sleep in his study again. With a smile, she walked to the desk in the corner of the room, which she had only recently discovered had sported a radio. She turned the knobs, feeling the machine come to life under her hoof. Good evening, everypony! The sun is low in the sky and Luna's moon is about to rise! It's looking to be a bee-yoo-tiful night! We can all thank Princess Luna for that! Now, it's seven o'clock and time for the nightlight playlist! This is DJ Star Shooter giving you the tunes to groove to! Trixie smiled as his voice faded and made way for an upbeat tune. She started tapping her hoof to the beat as it continued past the introduction and into the chorus. She smiled and began bending her knees, rather than tapping her hoof, putting her whole body into the action. Raising one of her front hooves from the ground, Trixie first pulled it in towards herself, then flung it outwards to propel herself into a spin that carried her almost two full revolutions. Without giving herself time to stop, she immediately continued to dance, moving first to the left, bending at the knees again, then moving to the right. She stopped caring about her appearance for once as she repeated the action, then began anew as her body moved to the flow of the music. She made up moves on the spot, letting one action spill into another and another as she felt the music moving through her. Her mane waved around her head becoming a mess which she refused to try to think about, and she only let herself care about one thing: what came next in the song. As she threw herself into another spin, Trixie saw a blue figure in the door to the stairwell. Immediately, she froze, her hair half in her face and the face behind it quickly turning a deep maroon. "No, please, don't stop on my account..." Pennington gave her one of his signature smug grins. "It actually looked really good! Where did you learn?" "A stallion in Fillydelphia gave me lessons whenever I would come to town..." Trixie quickly regained her composure, and brushed her hair out of her face, though the blushing remained. "It turned out, he didn't just want to swing with me on the dance floor, so I dropped him like a rock and taught myself the rest." At this point, she had a rather foolish thought. Well, I've already embarrassed myself, anyway... "I dance better with a partner..." Pennington's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, no... I don't dance. Never learned how, probably can't." Trixie rolled her eyes, slightly surprised at having finally found something that Pennington was afraid to do. "Well, then I can teach you! Consider it part of my payment for room and board." Pennington shook his head, but before he could deny her, Trixie had already grabbed him and pulled him into the center of the room with her. Almost perfectly, the song on the radio ended and morphed into a more slow-paced melody. She took his hoof and moved it to her waist as she led him in swaying back and forth. Pennington's movements and steps were stuttering and unsure at first, and his face was beginning to turn red, even as Trixie's blushing finally faded. "Just relax..." She whispered as she began to guide them in a slow circle. "I'll lead, you just follow." As his movements became more and more fluid, Trixie brought one of her hooves up and around his neck, pulling him closer and bringing their faces together. Trixie felt almost certain that he could feel the heat coming off of her face as it began to burn again. "These are... nice lyrics." Pennington muttered, eyes shifting downwards as he spoke. For the first time, Trixie listened to the actual words of the song that they were dancing to. I'll stand by you 'till the sun falls from the sky... I'll stand by you while the moon comes rollin' by... I'll stand by you! When your life is full of strife... I won't leave you, even if it costs me my life. Trixie smiled, this time honestly. "That reminds me... I never asked you why you stood up for me at Applejack's farm. I know that the two of you don't like each other, but that Iron Pony Competition was a lot of work to simply make a point..." Pennington smiled and finally looked Trixie in the eyes. "Well, I knew that it was the only way to knock that apple-headed nimrod down a few pegs... But it was really because I couldn't stand her calling you that. Snake is a name for somepony dishonest, disloyal, cruel and evil... And from what I've seen, you're not any of that." Trixie looked away this time, her face blushing harder. "You've hardly known me, Pennington." "Well, I think I've gotten to know you well enough to know who you are, Trixie! And I like her a lot better than everypony else around here seems to..." Trixie smiled, realizing what it would take to complete the moment. Her heart pounding, she prayed that the author shared the feelings that she was beginning to recognize. As the final notes of the song faded away, she pulled him a little closer and leaned forward, letting their lips embrace in a slow kiss. Pennington recoiled at first, looking at her with an expression of sheer surprise. "T-Trixie, I- I... I don't know what to say to that..." Trixie had felt suddenly unsure of herself at his reaction, but she felt a confirmation from him as she looked into his eyes, which were twinkling with excitement. "Well, why don't you just follow Big Mac's advice? Ask me..." She whispered, pulling him close again. Pennington looked unsurely to either side, then settled his eyes on hers. As he did, Trixie felt him grow more tense. "Well, we'll have no shortage of time together..." Pennington whispered with a smile. "Would you want to?" "You're the first pony to treat me like something more than simple trash or some kind of object... Of course I would." She replied, pulling him into another kiss. "Trixie!" Pennington called as he walked in through a back door to his shop. "I'm home!" "Penny!" Trixie bolted from the counter, where she had been waiting for customers. With an excited giggle, she grabbed him in a tight embrace, nearly tackling him to the ground. He had been gone for almost three weeks, apparently visiting with his publisher about something to do with the fact that his new book was almost finished. She still had yet to read it, and he kept it locked in a drawer in his study desk. "I missed you!" "I'm sorry, honey, but there was just so much to do! Copyrights, publishing rates, negotiations for royalties on book sales..." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as he walked through into the kitchen, which was now clean enough to eat off of. "But, I think that I'm ready to finally finish that book. Did you-" "Yes! All of them." Trixie mimicked his smug grin as she knew what he was about to ask. "Well, what about-" "She picked it up yesterday!" Pennington raised a curious eyebrow. "Did Zecora-" "She came by, and I told her that the pills were working." Trixie winked. "Come on, Pennington! The Great and Intelligent Trixie was able to take care of everything while you were gone!" "Everything except that pesky third-person habit, apparently..." Pennington rolled his eyes and gave her a tight hug. "But I think I almost missed it, in a strange way." "Well, how could you not miss Trixie? She is your girlfriend..." With a smile, she leaned up and kissed him, wrapping her hoof around his shoulders. "And you are pretty behind in your dancing lessons. I hope you were practicing!" Pennington shook his flank with a smile. "Well, you know how much fun I've been having since we started learning swing dancing! But, for now, I need to get to-" "I swear, Pennington Inkwell, if you are about to lock yourself in that study of yours, I am going to knock you into next Tuesday!" Trixie gave him a chastening glare. "I've been alone in this shop for three weeks, and I need a little time out!" "But- But I just got home..." Pennington whimpered, giving her a pleading look. "But Pennington..." Trixie whined in return, batting her eyes at him as best she could. Pennington crumbled under her gaze, as always. "Fine... What do you say we try our luck in Canterlot? I'm sure we can find something exciting to do there..." "Yay!" Trixie grabbed him anew in another hug, then enthusiastically kissed his cheek. "Canterlot it is, then! I'll go get ready for our date!" With that, she ran upstairs to her bedroom. Pennington smiled as she left. He knew that she had been trying to act cute, and he had let himself be played like a fool, but he didn't mind. With a small groan, he arched his back inwards, hearing it pop and crack a few times. "Sleeping in a bed while I was gone was nice... I may just declare that we're staying in a hotel tonight so that we can each have one, because I'm not ready to go back to sleeping in my study... But she's worth it. I'd never want her to sleep without a bed while I had one." With a smile, he realized something. "I think... that a few permanent arrangements may be in order."