"Git outta mah way!"
"The Great and Powerful Trixie has not even the smallest obligation to obey the commands of a - GYAAAARGH!"
Wandering in the snow for close to an hour had momentarily caused Applejack to entirely lose track of her objectives. However, the warm embrace of Trixie's bathwater had brought some semblance of clarity to the still groggy farm pony.
"Mah brother's still out there in the cold somewhere! And Apple Bumpkin, Apple Cider, Apple Cinammon and Granny Rose are in trouble. This blizzard is probably burying Golden Orchards as we speak. Ah can't be wallowing around in the bath at a time like this!"
"Trixie is still unclear on how freezing to death in the snow will help anypony at all! Now get back in the bath and - BLEARGH!"
Trixie was smaller than Applejack, not as well nourished and not as accustomed to manual labour. As such the physical altercation between the two was proving to be a little one sided. Trixie attempted to stop Applejack from getting out of the bath. Applejack ploughed through Trixie. Trixie attempted to halt Applejacks advance. Applejack ploughed through Trixie again. Trixie latched on to Applejacks rear hooves. Applejack ploughed on, dragging Trixie with her on an unstoppable advance towards the small half-moon exit hatch to the caravan that she had come in through.
"You're still soaking wet! If you step out that door you will freeze instantly!" Trixie yelled, still lying prone and latched onto Applejack's ankles like a limpet.
This statement, to Trixie's surprise, actually managed to halt the rambunctious orange mare.
"Aha!" Trixie leapt to her hooves and puffed out her chest, "So you have decided to heed Trixie's words of wisdom? There may just be hope for you yet! Now get back in the bath before the Great and Powerful Trixie unleashes her fearsome magic!" Trixie did her best to sound intimidating despite being desperately short of breath after the brief struggle.
Applejack glanced around the inside of the small mobile hovel. She reached out for Trixie's cloak, hanging on a peg on the wall.
"Oh, no! Don't you dare!"
Applejack began wiping herself dry with the dusty purple cape.
"Ah have to go help the ponies I care about. Thank ya kindly for yer kindness but Ah've gotta be goin' now."
"You will do no such thing! You brought this on yourself! Now steel your heart as Trixie unleashes the full force of her limitless magic potential!" Trixie leapt forward with a cry. Snatching the cloak from Applejack telekinetically and holding it out of reach, "Despair your arrogance, earth pony!"
Applejack narrowed her eyes, "That's your idea of full force? Well if you think that's gonna stop me from helpin' mah brother then you got another thing coming! Twilight says unicorns gotta concentrate to use magic so if Ah give you a good shakin' Ah reckon you'll drop that towel lickety split."
"It's not a towel! And Trixie thinks you will have difficulty shaking her after she hoofcuffed you to her chest of props."
Applejack glanced down. There was a large wooden box sitting next to her on the caravan floor and her rear hoof was shackled securely to one of its carry handles. She gave an experimental tug. She hadn't noticed the crate of props when looking for something to dry herself off with but it seemed to be remarkably heavy and secured to the creaky wooden floorboard with bolts and nails.
"Now where in the hay did you get a pair of hoofcuffs at a time like this?"
Trixie harrumphed and sat back on her bed with folded hooves, "What kind of self respecting magician wouldn't have a pair lying around? Now stop this nonsense and settle down and then maybe Trixie might consider sharing her dinner with you!"
Applejack examined her bindings more closely, "These hoofcuffs are made of plastic! Ah can smash through these in a second!"
"No, no, no, no, no! Trixie needs those for her stage show and can't afford another pair! Have mercy!" the dishevelled magician had gone from gloating victory to abject begging in two seconds flat.
Applejack sighed, "Look... uh... Great and Amazing Trixie..."
"Powerful," interjected Trixie.
"Don't push it. Look, Ah can't stand idly by while somepony need mah help. Ah know a loner like you might not understand that but Ah gotta get back out there, no matter how dangerous it is," Applejack had been trying to soften her voice and be reasonable but she could see that the 'loner' comment had stung Trixie, "Ah'm sorry, but Ah simply can't stay. Ah'll be sure to tell Twilight that ya helped me proper next time Ah see her."
If there is a next time, said the voice of fear in the back of Applejack's mind. She gulped as another gust of wind rattled the old door and whistled through the cracks in the walls.
"But Trixie does understand! There's a pony who needs her help standing right in front of her right now!" The arrogant blue showpony was having a rare moment of uncharacteristic resolve on her part. She strode forward and looked the larger mare dead in the eye, "Trixie's father taught her that when you're lost the dumbest possible thing you can do is go running around in the wilderness. Especially at night!"
"Well, Ah..."
"If your brother were here would he ask you to go hurtling into certain death for his sake?"
"No, but Ah..."
"Do you have any idea where you are now? What direction you should go?"
"Not exactly but Ah..."
"So you might end up travelling further from your destination, for all you know?"
"That's as may be but..."
Applejack shrank a little more with each biting question. Where would she even go? Behind the misted panes of glass of the small window in the caravan was nothing but a spinning white oblivion. She'd probably end up circling the caravan a few times and then pass out in the snow. She was already shivering just thinking about that biting wind once more.
"Trixie can see that you care about these others a whole lot but sometimes you've got to take care of yourself first. If you would feel terrible if something bad happened to them then imagine how awful they would feel if you ended up as an apple flavoured popsicle," Trixie paused for a moment and then blushed deeply at the idea of sampling Applejack's flavour. She was still not entirely convinced that she hadn't done something shameful during her brief stint as Ponyville's tyrannical magic fuelled overlord.
Applejack failed to notice. She was already beating herself up mentally. Putting yourself first, once in a while. It had only been a week since Applejack had sent a letter to the Princess detailing how she had learned that exact same lesson and already she was back to her one-pony-with-the-world-on-her-shoulder ways.
Dear Princess Celestia. Although caring about your friends is great sometimes we push ourselves too hard and it affects the ponies we care about the most...
Applejack shook off the mocking voice in her head, "Ah jus'... Ah...oh, fine. Ah guess you're right."
"Trixie simply will not take no for an answer. The Great and Powerful Trixie insists that you... wait, did you say that I'm right? Well of course I am! Trixie is always right!" Trixie grinned merrily and began wringing out her soggy cloak into a rusty bucket next to her bed.
"So are you gonna let me outta these cuffs or should Ah break 'em?" asked Applejack.
"Just nudge the catch on the side and they come right off," said Trixie, re-hanging her cloak on its peg to dry and then diving down and rummaging around under her bed.
Limitless magic potential, mah right hoof!
Applejack had never been a fan of magicians. Magic tricks seemed too close to dishonesty by virtue of its very nature. It just didn't seem right to deceive other ponies and take money for it, even for their own entertainment. If pressed Applejack might admit to having held a rather stereotypical earth pony prejudice against unicorns in general. That was before she met Twilight and patched up her rather rocky relationship with Rarity, of course. Farmer ponies tended to look at magic as an easy way out, as lazy, dangerous or as a Trojan horse of sorts. Help offered by wealthy unicorns in hopes of ensnaring innocent peasants in their debt.
It was clear, looking around the inside of Trixie's caravan, that this particular unicorn had not bilked altogether too many bits from her fellow ponies through peddling illusions, however. The wooden shack on wheels that Trixie called home, albeit a welcome respite from the storm outside, was a patchwork of different kinds of salvaged wood and scrap metal. The lamp in the corner seemed to have been improvised out of a used can of tomato soup with holes cut in it. The pipe that was serving as a chimney for the ancient stove warming the room was primarily a mishmash of used cans welded together. Even Trixie's bed sported a patchwork quilt that had the feel of something stitched together out of cloth salvaged from other peoples refuse. Puddles of water surrounded the corroded old bath tub, the aftermath of their brief tussle. The aesthetic of the room seemed to massively undermine Trixie's grandiose demeanour.
The far wall featured what appeared to be shrine to Trixie herself: a smorgasbord of newspaper clippings mentioning her, faded posters of her shows, an empty vase that may have been intended to hold roses thrown by admirers and a filthy and cracked mirror. Although the presence of such an egotistical display did not surprise Applejack in the least she was surprised by its frugal nature. Trixie was not poor because she wasted all her money on arrogant self indulgence. She was simply poor.
"Now you may want to take several deep breaths and make sure you're sitting comfortably," Trixie emerged from under her bed apparently empty hooved, "Because this may just give you a heart attack if you're not properly prepared for it. Trixie has been saving the best for last. She's kept something stowed away for just such a special occasion. Behold in amazement!" Trixie held out her empty hoof.
"Theres nothing there," replied Applejack, flatly.
"Or is there?" exclaimed Trixie, waggling her eyebrows like a madmare. She twirled elegantly and waved her hooves in a flurry. Finally after a sudden flick of the wrist she produced her prize. A single, slightly dented, can of tinned peaches, "Tadaaaaa! The Pie family gave them to Trixie as a reward for her magnificent performance as a geological agriculture consultant and rock breaker."
"A can of peaches?"
"In syrup," nodded Trixie, leaning close to Applejack, clearly expecting her guest to be as excited as she was.
Now Applejack, be polite. Not everypony's as well off as you and gets to eat fresh baked fancies every night. You take that poor girl's hospitality and you take it with a smile on yer face.
Applejack caught herself before she let her inner voice start sounding too much like Granny Smith.
"Gee, that's just... swell. Ah can't thank ya enough, Miss Trixie."
"Please, call me the Great and Powerful Trixie. All my friends do," Applejack didn't know Trixie well enough to tell if she was joking or not. She suspected that Trixie wasn't. She suspected correctly, "Now Trixie would be pleased...ahem... Trixie would not be entirely displeased if you would consider sharing in her delightful dinner and sleeping the night away in her majestic domicile."
"That'd be jus' great... the Great and Powerful Trixie. Only one teensy problem though..."
"And what would that be?"
"You've... only got one bed in here."
"...Trixie might be willing to admit that she had not thought of that yet."
Trixie had not considered altogether too many possible problems surrounding the act of inviting the friend of her biggest rival to stay the night. But the worst, and best, had only just begun.