//------------------------------// // Chapter Ninety Seven: Trips, Tales, and Psychic Fails // Story: Trixie and Maud: Heart of Stone // by TheCrimsonDM //------------------------------// HEART OF STONE Chapter Ninety Seven: Trips, Tales, and Psychic Fails Written by TheCrimsonDM Cold, freezing, bitter, cold. That’s what Trixie felt throughout the length of her entire body. Every fiber of her being was racked with agony, sharp jagged things moved around the insides of her legs like broken glass, her intestines were smashed as though a wrecking ball had slammed into her. Lastly she felt hatred, so much hate poisoned her mind, that the raging fire in her chest was stoked with every short rasping breath she drew. If she could still see, things would be worse. At this point the blackness offered her some small amount of solace. Seeing her destroyed body would’ve distracted her from the hate. “You survived?” A stallion asked in a frost covered voice. “…who?” She asked through a broken jaw. The pain from moving her mouth was immense, but nothing compared to the anger she clung so tightly to. “How could you have lived this long? With those kinds of injuries you should have died hours ago… you sure are determined,” he said. “…Kill… Her,” She replied. Silence, dark silence filled the room. The stallion took a few steps, his hooves making hard contact with the concrete floor. Something slid free somewhere, and a rusted metallic screech ruined the silence. Unable to move, Trixie simply lay there, filled with hate, filled with pain, and so very, very cold. “Revenge… that’s certainly one way to survive hardship. Hate, anger, rage, all those are all perfectly valid reasons for surviving. You wear that cloak of disdain well,” he said casually. He was silent but a moment before adding, “I could offer you a chance, a second chance to live.” “…How?” Trixie asked, her determination for survival never faltering, and her anger unwavering, if this stallion honestly had any way to save her, she would take it. She would take it, and set everything right. “You were resting rather close to my fallen comrade’s soul. It would seem that in his current state he can no longer serve me. It would also seem that in your current state you could not get your revenge if it was hoofed to you on a silver platter… If you join me and lead my forces, I will offer you a power that you could only dream of. Will you join me?” He asked. “…kill?” Trixie asked. “Oh, you will have all the time in the world to plan your revenge after this,” he answered. “…okay…” “Good, if you survive this process, you will become the most powerful mare in Equestria,” he said. “You could even rival the goddesses if you so wished.” Bitter cold began spreading throughout her body. A feeling like that of being dunked into a pool of frigid water came over her, stealing her breath away. Frost filled her lungs, and ice wrapped around her bones. The cold struck at her like needles shooting into every fiber of her being, and she screamed. *** Trixie woke up Slowly Trixie opened her eyes, her mind had to readjust to her body again. After having had nightmares for so long now, she was used to waking up and promptly pushing the bad dreams into some dark corner of her mind. If she tried to remember them all, she surely would’ve gone insane by now. She rolled over to cuddle with Maud, but she wasn’t there. Trixie sat up and looked around, she was in the den, laying on her old bed with three quilts on top of her. The bed still smelled of Maud’s earthy scent, but the mare was nowhere in sight. As soon as she hopped out of bed, she realized with joy that this room was much warmer than her bed room usually was in the morning. It looked like she found where they would be sleeping all winter. Seeing as how she was still wearing her jacket, she quickly undressed and tossed it over the side of the bed. Her wings spread wide as she stretched out, and she realized two things; one, she was hungry, and most importantly: two, she needed to pee. With her wings still erect, Trixie trotted into the kitchen and found Maud working at frying up a few eggs. Valiant was drawing with a crayon in her mouth on a piece of paper, she had to stand on one of the chairs in order to reach the table. Trixie smiled at the two of them. “Good morning,” Trixie said happily. Maud looked back at her. “Good morning, Lulu.” Val looked up and smiled brightly around the crayon in her mouth. Then her eyes widened and the crayon fell from her lips as she stared in utter silence at Trixie. It made Trixie uncomfortable to be stared at like that, even if it was just a filly, she still felt self conscious about her looks. She looked at her body in an attempt to see if there was something wrong, perhaps she was dirty and didn’t know it. Or her mane could just be a mess. Finally giving up, Trixie shied away a little and asked, “What’s wrong?” The filly pointed at her, and worked her lips silently. Trixie stared dumbly. After a few seconds Valiant bit her lower lip, looked down at the paper and smiled. Taking the crayon in her mouth again, and flipping the paper over to a blank side, she quickly got to work. After only a few seconds she dropped the crayon and held up the paper so that Trixie could see it. “You are alacorn. How?” Trixie tried to hold back her laugh, but failed. “Haha, I thought there was something wrong with my mane! Haha. Oh I can’t believe it.” Trixie suppressed her laughter, and wiped away tears. “Don’t tell anypony, but I was turned into an alicorn awhile ago. I’m actually a secret princess. But it’s our secret okay?” The filly nodded, looked back at her paper and drew something else. When she was done she showed it to Trixie. “Souper secret is safe with me.” “You’re a good kid, Val. Thanks,” Trixie said. She stood there for a second as she tried to remember what she was going to do. Her wing twitched and her bladder hurt. That was all she needed to know before taking off towards the bathroom at a near galloping pace. “I have to pee!” Once Trixie finished her morning business, and ate breakfast, she relaxed against the back of the chair. Thankfully her wings had folded themselves again. Trixie was quite content with her current position. “Lulu, we need to talk,” Maud said. “I’m listening,” Trixie replied. Valiant was sitting on a stack of thick text books, so that she could reach the table. She looked up at Maud. With a slow careful motion, Maud patted Valiant on the head. “We need to get clothes for Val. It’s cold outside,” Maud explained. “Plus it’s snowing again.” With a hop out of her chair, Trixie trotted over to the coat rack and stared at the various jackets lined up. “Okay, well… we could ask Rarity if she has anything in stock, though this time I’d really like to actually pay her for her service.” Maud stared at Trixie, after having known the pony for so long, this either meant that Maud wanted to talk about something serious, or she was lost in thought. Trixie really hoped for the later. “We can’t afford her prices,” Maud said. “What… but why?” Trixie asked. “We’re almost broke,” Maud explained. “H-h-how?” Maud frowned. “I haven’t had work since that job in Hollow Shades…” Oh great, so because I proved myself untrustworthy Maud’s been out of work, and I am not exactly earning any bits as a princess now am I. If only Twilight was awake, I could ask her how it is she gets money. Maybe I could ask Spike but he might still be in the hospital. “What do we do now?” Trixie asked. Maud averted Trixie’s eyes. “We should ask our cousin if she has any of Applebloom’s old clothing she could give us. We also need to visit Doctor Timequill after that.” “What about money?” Trixie asked. “Don’t worry about it. We will figure something out.” Trixie’s ears folded back. “Mmm, I really hope so.” *** The walk to the apple farm took longer than usual, mostly due to Valiant’s stubborn need to walk on her own. Trixie admired the filly’s determination even if watching the filly hobble along on three limbs was an uneasy sight to behold. Maud had broken away from them, she had looked utterly heartbroken as she tore herself away from Trixie and Valiant. Trixie understood though, Maud had planned on speaking to the cakes with plans on obtaining a temporary job. Trixie really wished for some princess money right now. Dead trees and snow-covered fields surrounded the apple farm. On Trixie’s approach she noticed Applejack standing out front, Applebloom was playing the snow with her friends off to the side. For some reason Applejack was talking to a blue pegasus, a stallion with a dark blue mane. Curiosity crept out of its little hiding spot in the back of Trixie’s mind, its sights set on discovering who this stallion was, and why Applejack was talking to him. Figuring speed was a determining factor in this, Trixie lifted up Valiant in a telekinetic field and trotted along the road. Ignoring the grumbling noises the filly made in protest, Trixie grinned. Stopping just short of the two, Trixie cleared her throat, garnering their full attention. “Good morning Applejack, and… I’m sorry have we met before? I am Trixie Lulamoon.” The stallion beamed at her. “I’m Soarin, it’s nice to meet you. AJ here has told me all about you.” “Oh?” Trixie questioned. “Yeah, like how you used to be a magician and how good you are at magic,” he replied. Trixie raised an eyebrow and looked at Applejack. “Oh, really?” Applejack grunted in response, and frowned at Trixie, before finally noticing the squirming filly floating next to her. Applejack nodded at the filly. “She’s out of the hospital already?” Trixie set Valiant down. “Yeah, she’s staying with me and Maud.” The smile on Applejack’s lips surprised Trixie. “That… might actually be really good fer you. Ah reckon that havin’ such responsibility will be helpful fer you two. Glad that you two decided to take her in, me an’ the others were debating on whether you would or not.” “…what?” Trixie asked, she felt very confused. “Well, duh we’re taking care of her until we find a good home. No need to stick her with two crazy mares who can barely keep their lives in check.” Now Applejack was frowning. “Oh… well that’s not what Ah wanted to hear. What exactly are you two doing here though?” Trixie looked down at Valiant, who was wearing one of Trixie’s spare jackets, it was so much bigger on the filly, that poor Valiant had a hard time standing up in it. She continuously fidgeted with the sleeves. “I was actually hoping you had some old clothes that you weren’t using anymore,” Trixie said sheepishly. “I… me and Maud are in a bit of financial trouble right now.” Applejack took a sudden step forward. “What do ya’ll need? Other than clothing for a filly. We’re family, Trixie. Ah’ll help in any way Ah can.” That made Trixie’s heart swell with joy. Knowing that she had family to rely on, even if she wasn’t the most active, nor helpful member of the family, meant the world to her. The tug at Trixie’s tail however made her worry. Valiant was hiding behind Trixie, pulling on the tail with her teeth and staring with guarded eyes at Applejack. Oh… she doesn’t trust Applejack. Hmm, finding a home for her is going to be harder than I thought. “It’s okay, Val. This is my cousin, she’s really nice and good with foals. You can trust her,” Trixie said gently. Valiant didn’t move an inch. “She’s not gonna trust anypony other than you and Maud, you know that right?” Applejack said. Trixie nodded. “Yeah… I know.” “Ah’ll go see if Ah got any winter gear that’ll fit her. She’s about the same size as Applebloom was when she was five,” Applejack said. “Yeah, well she sure doesn’t act like a five year old,” Trixie explained. “She’s lived a hard life, Trixie. That’ll make anypony grow up an’- hey, Soarin what are you doin’,” Applejack asked. Soarin had a plate of fresh apple pie balanced on his wing, the steam curled off into the air and the scent was enough make Trixie’s head swim with delicious flavors. It was just like her mom’s apple pie… well it pretty much was her mom’s apple pie considering their relation. The stallion approached Valiant and knelt down to offer the plate to Valiant. The filly’s nose picked up the scent and she sniffed a few times, smiled and looked at Trixie with a raised eyebrow. “It’s okay, you can have it,” Trixie said. Wasting no time at all, Valiant leapt onto the food and devoured it within seconds. Both Applejack and Trixie stared in disbelief as the filly finished it, smiled and sat down. She looked at Soarin with big eyes and nodded thankfully. With her cheeks flushed, Applejack looked away and crossed her forelegs. “Ah don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.” “Aw you two are cute together,” Trixie said playfully. Still kinda weird to imagine, but it can’t be as bad what Rarity and Spike are up too. “Well, Ah need to go look for those clothes, but one last thing,” Applejack said quickly. With a hoof placed to her lips she gave an ear-piercing whistle that caused Trixie to flinch away from her. Applebloom suddenly stopped in the snow, said something to her friends, and together the trio of fillies came galloping towards Trixie and the others. Once they arrived, covered in snow, and grinning like madmares, Applejack addressed them. “Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo. This here filly is named Valiant Heart, ya’ll need to be friends with her, okay?” After receiving nods from the three of them, Applejack smiled and turned towards the house. “Ah expect you to be gentle and nice to her. Ah’ll be back in a two shakes of a rattlesnake’s rear end.” At first Valiant took to hiding behind Trixie’s leg again, but after Applejack was inside she poked her head out and stared at the trio of smiling fillies. It was odd seeing the confused look on Valiant’s face, Trixie could understand it though, this was all new territory for the filly, and it certainly made her feel out of place. “Val, I’m going to sit down next to the house, if you want you can stay by me,” Trixie said. When Valiant Heart nodded Trixie lifted her up with magic and proceeded to find somewhere dry for them to sit on. For some reason, the cutie mark crusaders hadn’t started talking yet, but looked almost as awkward as Valiant did. Soarin joined Trixie’s side, she felt Goosebumps grow along the side of her legs, even if he was a good friend of Applejack’s she still was not comfortable around stallions. “So uh,” Applebloom started. “What happened to yer leg?” Valiant simply stared at them. “Okay, touchy subject I guess,” Scootaloo said. “Do you like sports?” This time Valiant shook her head. “Darn,” Scootaloo replied. “OH I KNOW!” Sweetie Belle screeched. “You like fashion and girly stuff, right?” Again, a shake of the head from Valiant. Trixie let out a sigh as the fillies took turns asking questions about Valiant’s hobbies. All them ended up in a no or a confused look, but it was amusing to see them trying. While the fillies went right along without stopping, Trixie noticed Soarin staring at her. “Um… can I help you?” Trixie asked nervously. “I sure hope so. Well, it’s just that… er… Applejack is really nice, you know,” Soarin said, his voice quiet and shaky. “And I’ve been friends with her since we first met at the Grand Galloping Gala… well… maybe not just friends you know.” Trixie almost felt like she was invading Applejack’s private life, which seemed to her was very private. She wasn’t even sure if Applejack’s friends really knew what was going on, and for a pony who was famous for being a horrible liar to keep such a secret… this must have been important. So there was only one thing she could do. “Yeah, she is one of a kind. What can I help you with?” Trixie asked. “Me and her, well…” He looked away shyly. Thankfully, the four fillies were all talking over the two’s conversation, poor Valiant was looking increasingly confused as the trio’s questions got increasingly difficult to understand, a few of the questions even confused Trixie. “…I want to ask her a really, really important question. I don’t know how she’ll take it though,” Soarin said. “Well if you don’t-“ Trixie started to reply when it suddenly hit her like a freight train; he wants to marry her! “Oh… you want to ask that question? You want to pop the question, so to speak,” Trixie said. Her mind was now screaming at her to find out more, and try as she might, she simply couldn’t kill her curiosity.  Trixie relaxed. Well I can get the most direct answer to that question, in such a way that nopony else would get it. This feels like invading personal space, but… I can’t leave this guy hanging. If AJ really likes him, then that’s all there is too it. “Give me a minute to think, and I’ll have your answer,” Trixie said. Soarin leaned away and tensed up in his chair, he looked nervous. Trixie felt for him, she was lucky enough to have Maud, and the engagement was still one of the best things she’d ever done, but right then she was afraid of seeing Applejack reject him. If they broke up, it would really hurt Applejacks feelings after all. Relaxing in her seat, Trixie reached out with subconscious and felt the invisible power tug at her mind and suddenly her she slipped free of her body. She looked down at her body and smiled, she looked like she was meditating rather than asleep, this could work out. Floating through the house she felt for Applejack’s energy, after having read her mind before she could track the mare down easily enough. Trixie passed through Big Mack’s room, the stallion was laying on his back on a sofa and staring at a sketchbook, inside was a drawing of a beautiful mare, he chewed furiously on the pencil in his mouth. Trixie flew through the wall and into a storage room where Applejack sat with a pile of clothes and a brown leather saddlebag next to her. She was holding a picture book, inside was a picture of a baby Applebloom, and Applejack holding her, although she was smiling, Trixie could see the sadness in the young Applejack’s eyes. Something that made Trixie want to go back in time and hug the filly, but that was impossible. Reaching out, Trixie touched Applejacks mind. “Me an’ Big Mac have raised you since you were a filly, you’ve made us so proud,” Applejack thought. Trixie reached deeper inside. Memories of her family, apples, even of a young unicorn with white fur, and a purple mane befriending her. Trixie saw the memories like still images, in one she saw a young Rarity helping Applejack out on an art project, in another they were running around trying to catch a ball, the last memory Trixie saw made her freeze. A young Trixie stood covered in mud, a few starches and a red spot on her cheek. Rarity and Applejack stood against her, Rarity had mud in her mane, and Applejack looked pissed. Behind Trixie lay the shivering form of a pink earth pony, whose mane was straightened and covered up most of her face. The image locked onto Trixie’s mind and she found herself sucked into the past. Pain stretched across Trixie’s cheek burned, and it was hard to see through the mud. The two bullies stood in front of her with anger clear in their eyes. The sobbing pink thing behind her only made Trixie’s courage stronger. “Oh come on! Why are you protecting the freak? She was talking to a plant, I saw her!” Rarity exclaimed in an overly high pitched voice. “Ya’ll know that her mom is just as crazy right?” Applejack explained. “Maybe she’s related.” Rarity flipped her mane, mud flew out. “HMPH! Maybe they both need to be punished.” The pink filly sobbed loudly. “If you touch her again, I’m going to… to…” Trixie couldn’t figure out a good punch line. “Can’t even come up with a good comeback, huh? You truly are worthless,” Rarity said meanly. “Get her Applejack.” Applejack lunged forward and Trixie rolled back shrieking. Another beating from the bully was not on her list of things to do that day, and even if she took the beating, there was no telling if they wouldn’t just continue onto the pink filly. Trixie managed to get enough distance from Applejack that she could circle around to Rarity, and as she did the only plan she had to save the pink filly came to her mind. She needed to lie. “You wanna know why your mom drinks so much alcohol?” Trixie shrieked. Rarity spun around. “What!” “It’s because your dad isn’t a good kisser, so she decided that the bottle was better to make out with!” Trixie said. Rarity reared up and shrieked a battle cry. “IT IS ON!” Trixie spun around, saw Applejack swing a hoof at her, and dodged underneath it just in time. Trixie ran past her and screamed, “Yeah well at least a drunk mom, is still a living mom. Only the most worthless ponies have dead parents.” The shout that Applejack made, it wasn’t like a pony at all, it sounded like pure and utter death, like the scream of a giant monster coming for her. Applejack was like an Ursa Major, and Trixie was the poor defenseless mare that was about to get eaten. Galloping at full speed, Trixie dove in between adult ponies who towered over her, in between carts, and even jumped over a barrel. None of it was good enough to shake her pursuers though. Eventually she spun around a corner, and tripped on a rock. The second she fell face first she rolled in the dirt until she came to a stop at the hooves of a slightly taller unicorn filly. The filly had purple fur, and stared at her with dark purple eyes. “Um… hi…” Trixie said. The filly did not respond all at once, and when she did, Trixie only found herself feeling confused. “You rolled three times before stopping, but the momentum you were galloping at should have carried you for at least five rolls. How did you slow your momentum?” “I… uh… you were in the way?” Trixie said, confused. “Hmm, so you slowed yourself down in an attempt not to collide with me. Interesting, perhaps you could try that again only wi-“ the filly’s reply was cut off by Rarity shrieking. The white unicorn tripped over Trixie’s back and fell into the purple unicorn, the two collided and went sprawling to the ground. Rarity got up and glared at the filly below her. “STAY OUT OF MY WAY WEIRDO!” By the time Rarity was done, Trixie was up and running back. Her horn was hurt in the fall though. She could feel sparks coming off of it. She darted in between two buildings and just as she about to get free of them, Applejack appeared from around the corner. Trixie slid to a stop, turned and fled. Just as she got halfway to the other side, Rarity appeared, covered in mud, and steam coming from her nostrils. Trixie looked between the two ponies as they advanced toward her. She was stuck, closed in and had nowhere to run. Her horn burned. A flash of energy went through Trixie’s body, and focused in her horn, she reared up and screamed out in agony as sparks of magic flew from her horn. Rarity and Applejack’s eyes went wide. Purple lines of energy flew from Trixie’s horn, and she grasped the magic inside, took hold of it and shaped it in her image. Five miniature ursa majors appeared all around her, and as she landed on her four hooves she looked at the fearful eyes of her bullies, and smiled. “Get them,” Trixie said. The bullies ran off just as the ursa majors all charged after them. Trixie had won the battle. Afterwards she made her way back to the place where she had left the pink filly, and not surprisingly the filly was still lying in the mud sobbing quietly. Despite the mud, Trixie laid down next to the filly and hooked a foreleg around her. The filly looked up with sad blue eyes. “It’s okay, I’ve saved the day,” Trixie said proudly. The filly sniffled, and more tears ran down her cheeks. Seeing the filly like this made Trixie feel terrible, she didn’t even know how to make the filly feel better. The only thing she could think of was to do what her mom always… used to do whenever Trixie was sad. Tell a story. “Once upon a time, there was a hero… um and this hero was a wonderful pony. She would go around to all the ponies who were sad, or scared, or alone, and she would make them all happy,” Trixie said. “H-h-how?” The pink filly asked. That stumped Trixie, she had never been the one to tell the story before. For all she knew, the pony in her story could do anything… so she could also do everything. “The pony would sing, all the time, really silly songs that made ponies laugh. She would also tell the funniest jokes, and dance. Sometimes the pony would wear really silly costumes and act really silly so that other ponies could laugh and be happy. But if they were still sad, and she couldn’t do anything else, she would cuddle up next to them, and she hold them close while telling them stories. And you know what?” “What?” “It always worked, one hundred percent of the time,” Trixie said. “The Happy Pony they called her, because she was always happy, even if she was sad she wouldn’t let others know because so long as they were happy, she could be too.” “Is she real?” The pink one asked. “Of course she is,” Trixie lied. “She’s more real than Celestia.” “Oh wow…” The pink filly said. “Um… did you have a cutie mark before?” “A cutie mark? I don’t have a-“ Trixie turned around, and much to her surprise the image of a blue wand trailing magic with five white stars behind it was right there on her flank. Trixie jumped up. “I HAVE A CUTIE MARK!” “Wow,” The pink filly agreed. “What happened to my sister?” A voice colder than stone said from behind the two. Both ponies shot up and spun around to face a tall mare with gray fur and a short purple mane. With cold eyes, the mare stared down at Trixie, making the filly feel even tinier than ever before. “You two look like crap,” The mare said coldly. “What happened?” The pink one leaned into Trixie’s ear and whispered, “Don’t tell her I was talking to my friends again.” Trixie nodded, and faced the mare. She gulped. “We… I… we were just playing.” The mare looked at the pink one. “You two were too rough. You know what mom says about roughhousing.” “I know, it’s not allowed. We need to be calm and collected,” the pink one said sadly. The tall pony frowned. “Well I won’t tell. For all I care that rule can go straight to Tartarus and suck lord Tirek’s-“ “What?” The pink one squealed. “Right… come along,” The tall one said. “You need to get cleaned up.” The pink one trotted along her older sister, decidedly leaving Trixie behind in the mud. She’d have to go home and clean herself, considering her mom probably wasn’t able to help… she never helped anymore. “I told you get a move on,” The tall mare said sternly. Trixie looked up and saw the mare staring down at her with an unreadable expression. Trixie looked around. “I… but why?” “Because you're dirty and I’ve gotta clean you up. Now come on,” The mare said. Trixie trotted along. Despite how scary the tall pony might be, Trixie actually found herself smiling. For once, she wasn’t being left behind. The mare leaned in and whispered, “Thanks for rescuing my little sister. I’ll get revenge on those punks later.” Trixie stared up at her, and for a brief second she could swear that the tall pony was… smiling. The image stopped moving, and Trixie felt herself slip out of Applejack’s mind. Applejack shook her head violently and said, “Ah don’t know what just happened, but… Ah feel like Ah should apologize to Trixie, and then smack her.” Applejack looked around. “If Ah find out that Fluttershy’s drunk ramblings were right, and you just invaded mah mind, Trixie Ah am gonna be furious.” Quickly snapping back into her own body, she inhaled deeply. Her eyes shot open and she looked over at the trio of fillies still trying to learn more about Valiant. Valiant however looked really unsettled by their new line of questioning. “What is your favorite food?” Applebloom asked. Valiant Heart looked over at Trixie and squeaked. Trixie quickly shoved everything aside as she felt the filly’s nervousness. She was asking for help, and Trixie could offer it. “Soarin, if you really care for her, you should ask. If she says no, then it wasn’t meant to be,” Trixie said as she stood up. “You three,” Trixie said with authority. They all looked up at Trixie with bright smiling faces. Trixie levitated Valiant up and set the filly on her back. “Val’s been through a lot, and she doesn’t talk. So sadly she cannot answer all of your questions.” “Oh, I’m sorry, we didn’t know,” Sweetie Belle said. “I know you didn’t. You three are so good compared to what your sisters were like at your age,” Trixie said. “But then again that isn’t all their fault, I might have played a few pranks on them myself.” “You played pranks on Applejack?” Applebloom asked. “Yeah, nearly cost me an eye. Trust me, she does not take well to putting itching powder in her jacket,” Trixie said with a sly grin. The three fillies shivered at the thought. Applejack walked outside with a brown saddlebag so filled with clothes that they were beginning to poke out of the top. That was what Trixie had needed. Applejack gave Trixie a suspicious look. “Ayep, while Ah was digging through these Ah remembered a few things… from your perspective.” Quickly looking away, Trixie coughed. “Weird, I wonder what that’s about?” “You know that Twilight’s been teaching us on how sense and prevent mind reading right? Ever since we found a pony who could do that, it’s been a concern on everypony’s minds,” Applejack said. “Oh… really?” Trixie said sheepishly. “I wouldn’t know anything about that.” “Yeah well…” Applejack let out a sigh. “Look Ah don’t rightly blame you. We were pretty darn mean to you, you and… Ah guess Pinkie as well. Ah honestly didn’t remember much of that, but Ah bet Pinkie Pie remembered all of it. She’s got a memory that’s sharper than Twilight’s when she wants it to be,” Applejack said. Applejack hoofed over the saddlebag and Trixie put it on. After that Applejack simply frowned. “Trixie, Ah just want you to know, you’re good fer that filly. Don’t forget that.” Trixie nodded. Looked up at Valiant and smiled. It was about time to meet up with Maud, and then to go see the doctor. Hopefully Maud was able to get everything that she needed.