//------------------------------//
// Chapter 11: Second Thoughts 
// Story: Lessons from Another Dimension 
// by HolyOrdersOtaku 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 11: Second Thoughts



Little angel go away, come again some other day. The devil has my ear today, and I’ll never hear a word you say. He promised I would find a little solace and some peace of mind. Whatever, just as long as I don’t feel so desperate and ravenous. So weak and powerless, over you.


“I’m committing suicide!” Trixie exclaimed as they walked to Sweet Apple Acres. They weren’t very far from the farm if the map Bass carried was accurate at all, so it was far too late to back out now. “They’ll kill me for sure when they see me again!”
“You’re just nervous. It’s not like she’ll actually kill you or anything,” Bass explained, trying to calm her down. She was perfectly sane when they left Golden Oaks Library, but the closer they got to the Apple’s farmland the more terrified she was. “She might tell you off for being such a jerk, but who wouldn’t do that to someone who tormented them for days at a time? I know I would.”
Trixie gave Bass an irritated look. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“I suppose so.”
“Well, if you want my opinion on the matter, IT’S NOT HELPING!” she yelled in his ear.
He rubbed his left ear. “You got a hell of a voice, there.”
“Perks of being a showmare. I’ve never had the benefit of sound equipment, so I’ve learned how to project my voice.”
“Take lessons with Luna,” Bass chuckled. “That will most defiantly be a way to project your voice.”
“You mean Princess Luna? You know the princess?”
“Sure, she named me.”
“Named you?” Trixie asked.
“Do you really think Bass Chord is my real name?”
She shrugged. “It sounds authentic enough. I had no reason to doubt it.”
“Huh,” Bass replied. “Well, it’s not my real name. I’m not from this world, after all. We have a different naming system where I’m from. Names mean something. Usually pointless stuff that the parents’ like. My mom named me a name because she liked how it sounded, but she didn’t know what it meant. I do, and I don’t like it. Bass Chord is an upgrade.”
“What is your real name?”
Bass smiled. “That is a secret~!” 
“Really?” Trixie asked. “You’re not going to tell me? I bet you told Twilight Sparkle and the others, didn’t you? Surely you told the princesses!”
“Don’t call me ‘Shirley’. And no, nobody here knows my real name. I intend to keep it that way. Plus, I rather like my pseudonym. Makes me sound like a rock star.”
“Aren’t you? You’re cutie mark is a bass guitar, after all.”
“I’m good, but I don’t think I can compete with legitimate bands. Especially since I’m by myself. I have never been a part of a band.”
“Oh, well that’s too bad. If you’re special talent is playing a guitar of any kind, bass not exclusive, then you would probably be very successful in a band.”
“I could only hope,” he said. “I think we’ve arrived.”
“What?” Trixie asked suddenly. She looked around and saw the farm they had been walking to; Sweet Apple Acres. “Oh, no! What will I do? What if they kick me out of Ponyville before I can even try to make things right?”
“I would like to point out that, while we were talking about random crap, you were perfectly normal and not scared out of your mind. You’re psyching yourself out by thinking about the possibilities of what may happen. Do you want my advice on that matter?” Trixie nodded. “Just don’t do that. Don’t psyche yourself out.”
She gave him an irritated glare. “Just don’t do it? That is your big help to me?”
Bass nodded with a smile. “Yup.”
She sighed. “What am I going to do?”
“Whatcha gonna do ‘bout what?” asked a country accented mare in front of them. Applejack managed to sneak up on Bass and Trixie without them realizing. “Howdy, Bass. Ya’ll here for that deal of ours?”
“Naturally. I can never say no to free cider. That stuff is the shit!” Bass exclaimed.
“It’s the what?” Applejack asked. 
“Oh, sorry. That’s one way of saying it’s awesome back home. If it was bad, then I would say that it was shit, and not the shit. Take no offense.”
“Well, alrighty. Ah have one question, however. What is Trixie doing with you?”
“Trixie, that’s your cue,” Bass told her.
“Uh, I-I-I dunno what to say,” she stuttered.
Bass sighed and grabbed Trixie’s head, forcing her to bow in front of Applejack. “What do we say, Trixie?”
Trixie managed to get the hint. “I-I’m sorry.”
“Now now, Trixie. You have to be more specific about why you’re apologizing.”
She nodded, still in her forced bowing position. “I’m sorry for treating everyone the way I did two months ago. The Alicorn Amulet may have been the influence, but I am still to blame. I’m also sorry for enslaving you, Applejack. I was hoping we could get to know each other a little better and become friends. Is that alright?”
“Much better,” Bass said, smiling. He let go of her head and she stood up.
Applejack stared long at Trixie. One could see the sweat dripping off of Trixie’s face as she waited nervously for Applejack to respond. “I dunno,” Applejack replied. “It’d be mighty hard to put something like that in the past, y’know.”
“I’ll do anything to earn your trust,” Trixie said.
Wrong answer, Trixie. Bass thought with a slight grin. He looked at Applejack and tried his best to hide the rest of his smile. He saw in her eyes the look of pure evil. Well, not really evil, but a large amount of mischief that could be considered evil. Bass knew that Applejack was about to ask for a seemingly impossible thing.
“Anything, eh? Well, what should we have you do, miss Trixie? Give Granny Smith’s hooves a rub? Wash Big Mac’s personal tool shed? Babysit the Crusader’s for a full day?” Bass visibly winced at that last one. For the short amount of time that he was with those three fillies, even he wouldn’t want to prolong his own suffering that way. “I know what y’all can do!” She began to walk into the house, beckoning Bass and Trixie to follow.
They did, and Applejack lead them into the kitchen, where an elderly green mare, whom Bass assumed was Granny Smith, was putting cookies into the oven. “Well, howdy there, young’ens! I haven’t met ya’ll before!”
Bass knew to respect his elders. It’s how he was raised. So, he was very polite when he replied with, “Hello. I’m Bass Chord. I’m an acquaintance of Applejack. You must be Granny Smith.”
“Darn tootin. Has Applejack been tellin’ her secret colt friend bout me?”
Bass laughed. “No, she just mentioned your name a minute ago. I’m just a friend, by the way. We’re not dating.”
“That so, Applejack?”
Applejack sighed. “Yes, Granny. Ah ain’t datin’ nopony.”
Bass had never been more tempted than ever to point out that a double negative cancels out, making it a positive. Translation; I am dating somepony. But, he knew that was not what she meant, and he let his inner grammar nazi die for a moment; he could live without pissing someone off about grammar.
“Who’s yer other friend?” Granny Smith asked.
“I’m Trixie Lulamoon. I’m hoping to be friends with Applejack,” she replied.
“So, for that, Granny, Ah need…the stuff,” Applejack said suspiciously.
“The stuff?” Granny Smith asked. Then she gasped. “You don’t mean that stuff, do you?”
“Ah do mean that stuff. Where is it?”
Granny sighed. “Yer gonna kill somepony one of these days. It’s in the top cabinet over there,” she pointed at the cabinet in question. “Ah’m getting outta here before there’s a body in my house. Have fun, kids.” She walked out, having put the timer on the oven to the proper time to let her cookies bake.
Bass gulped. “May I ask what it is that we’re doing?”
“You are going to watch as a witness, Bass. Me and Trixie are going to do something,” she said as she opened the cabinet and procured a bottle. Inside the bottle was a brownish yellowish liquid that Bass immediately recognized as cider. His mouth began to water. Applejack saw this and shook her head. “This ain’t yours, sugarcube. Ah wouldn’t dare let you drink this. Ah’ll get yer cider in a minute.”
She obtained two glasses and poured them full of the cider. As they poured, Bass understood why Applejack refused the let him drink it; it reeked with alcohol. It was hard cider.
Applejack smiled. “This ain’t no ordinary hard cider. This is my own special hard cider. Nopony in the world makes it like this, and nopony but me and mah brother can drink it straight! If Trixie can down a glass of this with me, then she’ll earn my forgiveness.”
Trixie’s nose wrinkled at the strong alcohol. “Are you sure that’s safe for ponies to drink?”
“Ah’m convinced that it’s not!” Applejack declard. “But, you said you would do anything, and this counts as anything. You gonna down that glass or not?”
Trixie took a deep breath and looked at Bass for help. “Don’t look at me. I was too young for that stuff back home. I’m only twenty.”
“That’s legal in Equestria,” Trixie chimed, and Bass tried his hardest not to ask for a glass himself. He always wanted to try alcohol. Trixie sighed. “Should I?”
“Go for it,” Bass said flatly. “I’m just here to observe, and observe I shall!”
Trixie looked back to Applejack. “Fine,” she said. She picked up the glass with her magic. “Let’s get this over with.”
Applejack smiled and picked up her glass with a hoof. “On the count of three. One. Two. THREE!” 
The two mares turned their glasses upside down into their mouths, but only one was unfazed. Trixie began to cough harshly as the strong alcohol went down her throat. Applejack just emptied the glass and set it down, smiling. To Trixie’s credit, she didn’t spill a drop, but that just meant that she was suffering even more so. After about a minute of coughing and hacking, Trixie finally calmed down and looked to Applejack. “Am ah dunn? Do yoo forgiv meh?” she asked with a slight slur. Her blue face turned a tad bit of red.
Bass and Applejack laughed. “Yeah, Ah say you’re good to go, Sugarcube. Ah can forgive you. We’ll just have to get to know one another better before I can call y’all a friend of mine,” Applejack said.
“Oh, gud. Tricksee feels thired,” she said just seconds before she hit the floor, passed out.
“Did she die?” Granny Smith called from the next room over.
Bass and Applejack waited and heard her snore. “She’s alive, Granny!” Applejack called back. “I guess she can’t hold her liquor.” She capped the bottle and returned it to the cabinet.
“Isn’t ten in the morning a little early for such a hard drink?” Bass asked, holding back laughter.
“It’s five o’clock somewhere, right?” Applejack chimed in, and the two started to laugh. “Well, Ah guess y’all need to take her back home. D’ya need help?”
“It wouldn’t hurt,” Bass replied.
“Ah can let ya borrow a cart to pull and you can put her on it.”
Bass nodded, and he went outside to get it tied to his body. Applejack loaded Trixie up into the cart, alongside a bottle of apple cider. “That’s the non alcoholic cider right there,” Applejack assured. Bass thanked her, told her to tell Rainbow Dash about Trixie if she showed up, and dragged the cart back to the library.
It’s true that Bass, as a human, wasn’t very fit. He wasn’t overweight by any means, but neither did he have an abundance of muscle. He was somewhere between fat and muscular, while still maintaining a sense of thinness and weakness. He was thinner than most people he knew, but he was also bigger than some. He was weaker than most, so he didn’t fit into the ‘average’ category. Sure, he had worked out and lost over twenty pounds, but he still didn’t build up that much muscle, and he didn’t improve his stamina one little bit. It is with those thoughts that Bass wished he had worked harder to improve his physical fitness. He was exhausted beyond belief by the time he made it to the library, and it was now that he remembered that Spike was at Rarity’s, and that Twilight was spreading the word about Trixie to the others. Bass had to untie himself from the cart, carry Trixie and the cider by himself, and then take care of the library by himself. Lucky for him it was closed for the day, but he still had to house keep since he was the first one back.
After thirty minutes of trying by himself, and the luck that an earth pony named Time Turner who was passing by and decided to help,  Bass was able to get everything in order. He thanked the stallion and entered the library where he would be alone for several hours.
An hour later, Bass heard Trixie stir. He had placed her on a couch, where she had slept peacefully, if not a little drunkenly, and now she seemed to be waking up. He had spent the last hour scouring the library for any book that he might be interested in. But, he didn’t really have any luck, and because he was stuck reading old ‘How To’ guides for an hour, he decided to satisfy his boredom by messing with Trixie as she woke.
She moaned and groaned from grogginess. When she slowly opened her eyes, Bass was sitting just inches away from her face with a seductive smile on his face. “Good morning, sweetheart. How was your first night with me?”
“Uuuaaagh!” Trixie replied as she flailed about. Bass expertly dodged her flailing hooves, and she tumbled to the floor. “Ow!” she said, muffled by a rug.
Bass tried not to giggle. “You okay?”
“That was not funny!” Trixie exclaimed. She still hadn’t sat up, so she was still muffled by the rug. She rolled until she was free of the rug and she stood up. “That wasn’t very nice,” she said, her face turning a slight red; alcohol wasn’t the cause.
“Sorry, sorry. I couldn’t help it. There’s only so much I can do when the only things I have are read, read, and read some more. I like to read, mind you, but I haven’t the foggiest clue what’s good here.”
“Why was I even asleep? I remember accepting Applejack’s conditions, and then…nothing.”
“Let’s just say that her ‘conditions’ were strong and far too powerful for your lightweight to handle.”
“Are you saying I can’t hold my liquor!”
Bass laughed. “Clearly you can’t, because not two seconds after she said she forgave you, you said, ‘Oh, gud. Tricksee feels thired,’ and then you hit the floor.”
Trixie blushed some more. “I-I did that? What else did I do?”
“Aside from look cute sleeping, nothing.”
“You really should stop teasing me, you know.”
“Yeah, I should. One of these days I’m actually going to compliment you and you won’t believe me,” Bass joked. “But in all seriousness; Applejack isn’t your friend yet, but you are a step closer to that goal. So, good job.”
“Really? She really forgave me just because I drank that…that…vile drink with her?”
“Truthfully, I’d wager that she had already forgiven you, but she wanted to know just how far you’d go to earn it. You’re determination was satisfactory to her, so she openly told you that she forgave you.”
“She said all that?”
Bass shook his head. “Nope. It’s either true, or I totally missed something. Either way, the result is the same. So, does it really matter at this point?”
She smiled. “I guess it doesn’t.” The smile faded then. “I still don’t know how the others will react to me.”
The door opened just then, and Twilight entered with Spike behind her. “Oh, hello, Bass. Hello Trixie. I have some good news. Everyone seems to accept Trixie to an extent.”
“To an extent?” Bass asked.
“Obviously, they forgive her for her ethics during the Alicorn Amulet incident, but they still need to get to know her personally if they want to accept her as a friend. So, for that matter, Pinkie has…”
“Invited the entire population to a ‘Welcome Potential Friend Trixie to Ponyville Party’?” Bass asked.
Twilight stared at him. “How did you know?”
“Twilight, I’ve been here for three days and I already understand enough about Pinkie Pie to know that I don’t understand anything about her except for her love of partying. Do you really have to ask how I know?”
Twilight blushed. “I suppose not.”
“I take it that the party is tonight?” Bass asked.
“Yes,” she replied. “Also, Rarity wanted to know if you would wear this to it.” She had Spike give Bass a box.
Bass opened the box, and inside was the white with blue trim hooded zip up vest. It was perfect. Bass put it on and left it unzipped. “This. Is. Fantastic!” he exclaimed.
“That is rather nice,” Trixie chimed.
“Well, are you going to wear anything, Trixie?”
“Do I have to?”
“No,” Twilight said. “But I’m sure most ponies expect to see you usual get up.”
“I don’t have it with me, I’m afraid. When I was chased out of Canterlot a few weeks back, someone stole my cape. I still have my hat, because it was given to me by my mother so I protected it, but it’s not the same without the cape.”
“Oh,” Twilight said. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Capes can be replaced. I’m just happy I was able to keep my mother’s hat safe.” She turned and saw tears in Bass’s eyes. “Oh! A-are you alright, Bass?”
Bass gave her a hug. “That is the sweetest thing I’ve heard all day, Trixie! A hat given to you by your mother! How touching!”
She awkwardly hugged him back, laughing nervously. She patted him on the back. “It’s okay, Bass. It’s not that big of a deal. Calm down.”
He pulled away, regaining his composure. “Sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me. So, shall we party?”
“The party isn’t until six in the evening,” Twilight answered.
He looked at the clock. It was just after noon. “So, what now?”
“How about we read a book?” Twilight said excitedly.
Bass and Trixie looked at each other. “Trixie will…I mean, I will go back to taking my nap. I’m still a little hung over,” Trixie said.
Bass nodded. “I need to practice my bass guitar. I haven’t played in a while.”
“Huh? Wait! What about books! You like to read, Bass. Trixie, why are you hung over? I NEED AN EXPLANATION HERE!”