Trixie and Maud: Heart of Stone

by TheCrimsonDM

Chapter One Hundred and Nine: Honeymooners

The city of Tall Tale was full of towering buildings that stretched up into the heavens. Even late at night, with no sun in sight, there were plenty of ponies walking around and living it up. Trixie had forgotten that there was even such a thing as a night life.

Red Velvet wore a dark red cloak, her face obscured by the deep shadows of its hood. Trixie on the other hoof wore a dark gray cloak, her hood was drawn as well. If it hadn’t been for the covert mission of theirs, Trixie would probably be trying to find a hospital to stay at. Her new wings were in an unforgiving constant agony. The mission took priority.

“What are we doing here?” Trixie asked as they passed a group of lively looking mares.

“I have a contact here that we need to meet. She’ll give us the help we need to find him, I assure you,” Red Velvet explained.

“Good, because I’m not going to let him get away with hurting my mom. Ash will pay,” Trixie said.

“You’re still weak from the transformation, don’t push yourself too hard. I’ve only heard about what happens to pseudo alicorns after they obtain their new magic. I don’t want anything to happen to you,” Red said.

Trixie scoffed. “You’re worried about me? Like I could actually believe that after the torture you put me through. I’m just warning you now, after we find and deal with Ash, I’m going to be hard pressed not to kill you too.”

“You’ve never killed a pony before,” Red said.

“You’re right, but I have killed lots of monsters, and both you and Ash are just more monsters,” Trixie said.

Red stayed silent after that, to which Trixie was thankful for. Together they traveled through the streets, avoided the crowds as much as possible, and even dodged a few guard patrols. The further they went, the scummier the environment became. Mares of the night stood on street corners, shady characters made deals with twitching ponies, and the homeless all crawled back into their hiding places as Trixie walked past them.

This place was more familiar than she’d like to admit.

Finally, the apartment building came into view. An old run down building complete with broken windows, junked wagons out front, and discolored furniture lining the walls. Several pegasi stood outside, talking, joking, and smoking cigarettes. They gave Trixie dark looks. She avoided looking back at them.

“There,” Red said as she led Trixie to one of the apartments.

Red knocked on the door with her hoof twice, paused, then three times, she paused again before knocking twice more. It took a moment but the door opened a crack, and a single teal eye peaked out at them. The door quickly shut, and the sound of a chain sliding was followed by the door opening all the way.

The mare that stood inside wore a violet cloak, a long lock of red and yellow hair had fallen over the top of her muzzle. Three ponies wearing hooded cloaks had to look odd, but in a place as shabby as this, it was unlikely that there would be anypony complaining. Most of the time ponies smartly look away when something fishy was going on.

Trixie knew this mare, she’d met her before a couple of times. “Hello Starfire Shine.”

The mare smiled and threw her hood back revealing her long, messy red and yellow striped mane. Trixie couldn’t help but to notice the fact that Starfire’s horn was longer than her own. She was a little envious of that fact.

“Trixie Lulamoon, so you’re the one traveling with Red Velvet?” Starfire said. “I didn’t expect you to get your hooves dirty like this.”

“It’s not like I had wanted to do this, but somepony has to deal with Ash, and I have more claim to his head than anypony I’ve met so far,” Trixie said.

Red Velvet looked back towards the door with a frown. “Where are we going?”

“The frozen north, he has a hideout in some of the old ruins. I want to go home and be with my special somepony, but if you are serious about doing this… I’ll have to join you,” Starfire said.

“Good, because I fear we will be needing to move out soon,” Red Velvet said as she walked over to the window. The curtains were drawn closed but a little bit of the lot outside could be seen through the cracks.

Starfire drew her hood and nodded at Trixie. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten that you owe me either, Trixie. I got that rock for you after all, and I’ll just tell you now; breaking into the Crystal Palace is not as easy as you’d think. Shining Armor has the place sealed tight with his kid around and all.”

Trixie donned her hood as well. “I’ll bet.”

Red Velvet back stepped away from the window. “Starfire, we’ll need a quick evac.”

Starfire’s horn took on a bright teal glow. “I want to see what they look like first.”

“What who looks like?” Trixie asked.

The door exploded inward, and if it hadn’t been for the appearance of a teal bubble surrounding both her and Starfire, Trixie would have been hit. Red Velvet quickly trotted to the other side of Starfire and faced the door. Three pegasi walked in.

They looked similar to the ponies who were outside, only now they were wearing blue and yellow outfits, and goggles. The lead mare with her orange fiery mane, told Trixie exactly who they were. The Wonderbolts had come.

“Under order of Princess Twilight Sparkle, you are under arrest,” Spitfire said in a low tone.

“Not today pig,” Starfire said with a grin. Her horn flashed and the room vanished.

A second later, Trixie found herself standing on top of a four story building overlooking the slums. Starfire stood behind her still grinning, and Red took a good look around. This mare must have been stronger than Trixie had thought, because teleportation was one of the hardest spells to learn, and even then using it so effortlessly showed even greater talent. Trixie was jealous.

“Well, let’s head out before the Wonderbolts pull their collective heads out of their rear ends. We’re wasting moonlight after all,” Starfire said.

The sweet ache of muscles well exercised was blanketed by a wonderfully dirty feeling. Trixie slowly opened her eyes with a smile upon her lips. Maud lay limply next to her. For awhile she just lay still enjoying the cuddly warm body next to her, and remembering the night before fondly. Even if she didn’t feel like doing that again anytime soon, she was decided that on occasion, when they had privacy, they could try that again.

Finally she had to get up. Pulling herself away from Maud was one of the hardest things to do, especially after seeing how fragile she was after the night before. Maud looked so innocent, so soft in her sleep. Of course Trixie knew better; Maud was anything but innocent.

After a quick trot to the rest room, a bath, and tying her mane into a ponytail, she was finally ready to attack the day. Maud deserved to rest, so she didn’t bother to wake her. Breakfast was comprised of burnt eggs, burnt toast, and burnt orange juice. She was never any good at cooking, and her brain still felt fuzzy from the night before.

A tiny knocking at the door nearly made Trixie jump out of her skin. She put her inedible breakfast aside and went to answer it. Lo and behold, Twilight Sparkle and Valiant Heart stood at the door, side by side. Valiant Heart had a message on her whiteboard.

“Uh…” was all that Trixie managed to say.

“D-don’t listen to her. I can take care of myself perfectly fine. I even made dinner last night,” Twilight said defensively.

Valiant rolled her eyes and wrote something else on her board.

“That counts! That totally counts!” Twilight said.

Trixie was feeling very confused. “Oh…”

“No it’s not, I so can, and I am not,” Twilight defended.

Trixie blinked. “Didn’t you like it at Twilight’s? She has lots of books.”

“I thought that we could play a game, or watch a movie. Don’t kids like that kind of stuff?” Twilight asked.

Valiant let out a huff and pushed past Trixie. Trixie stared at Twilight and felt sorry for the alicorn. “She likes to play alone, and she loves to read books… alone. The only pony I’ve seen her really play with is Sweetie Belle, and even then Valiant doesn’t play much. Sorry, I should have warned you.”

A door opened behind Trixie and slammed shut.

Twilight let out a sigh. “She’s right you know. My house is messy, and I never learned how to cook. I mean did you know that you actually have to drain the water from noodles in a special device called a strainer?”

“Uh… I usually just hold a fork against the noodles and drain the pot in the sink. Assuming I didn’t overcook them,” Trixie said.

“Fascinating, I looked for three hours for a strainer and didn’t find one. I should try your method,” Twilight said thoughtfully.

“Are you really lonely?” Trixie asked.

Twilight looked away. “Ever since I kicked Spike out… it’s been quiet.”

“How often have you ordered pizza lately?” Trixie asked.

“At least once a day, cooking is hard,” Twilight said shamefully.

“Why don’t you just let Spike come back?” Trixie asked.

“Because he lied to me, went around my back, and has been screwing one of my best friends for… Celestia knows how long now. I can’t trust him anymore,” Twilight said.

“He was scared that you would be upset with him. When you act like this, it only makes him right,” Trixie said.

Twilight stamped a hoof. “Don’t you think I know that? I want to tell him I’m sorry for yelling, that I am sorry for kicking him out, and that I want him to come home already. Even if I did… he wouldn’t come home. He’s too happy with Rarity, you’ve seen them right? He’s happy with her, how can I take that away from him.”

“At the very least you could apologize, maybe have him come over during the day to help out?” Trixie suggested.

“He’s already bringing me breakfast every morning, leaving it for me in a basket on the front porch… I can’t ask him to help me anymore. I have to do this myself,” Twilight said.

“Just get a servant,” Trixie said.

“I have never needed a servant before, why should I get one n-“ Twilight stopped mid sentence and her eyes bugged out as she stared at something behind Trixie.

Trixie turned around and saw Valiant standing in front of the bedroom door. The filly glared at Trixie, and her whiteboard explained it all.

After that Twilight respectively took her leave, Valiant jumped on the bed waking Maud up rudely, and then the three of them sat around awkwardly in the living room. More specifically, Trixie and Maud sat on the couch while Valiant used her whiteboard and a series of hoof gestures to explain just how inappropriate it was to use the bed for that kind of activity when they all slept in it. It was one thing to have Valiant be upset over this embarrassing event, it was quite another to be lectured by the tiny filly.

Maud however had it the worst. Not only was Maud prevented from bathing right away, she also seemed taken aback by Valiant’s knowledge of what they had done. Trixie had never seen Maud’s face turn this shade of red before, she looked like a cherry.

When everything was said and done, Trixie had gone from embarrassed and ashamed to giggling like a schoolfilly. Maud finally retreated to the bathroom to clean herself up, it was unlikely that they would see her anytime soon. Finally Valiant sat down with a pile of books and delved into a world of fiction.

Sitting down at the table and drinking a second cup of coffee, Trixie skimmed through the newspaper. Topics on dresses, the new alicorn Trixie Lulamoon, and the windigo were all things that stood out, but not enough to actually make her read them.

She’d already read what ponies had to say about her, most of them were excited about a new princess, but a select few had chosen to attack her for her past. It would seem that some ponies did not trust her, and she couldn’t really blame them. The hardest part was when the news had headlined her recent suicide attempt; that hurt.

A few taps against the side of her leg drew her attention. Valiant stood next to her with a question written out.

That was a hard question to answer. “I think so. She’s never really lived on her own before. Spike has always been there to take care of her. I guess she didn’t realize how much he really did for her. Although I’d never do it myself, I think she needs to get a servant, or at least somepony to help out at the castle.”

“I think we can all see it, Val. It’s hard to miss,” Trixie said.

Valiant shook her head and then placed a hoof over her eye patch.

“What’s wrong?”

Trixie wasn’t sure what to make of that, but she figured it would make sense in time. Truth be told, it was simpler when ponies only had to worry about Trixie, now that they were worrying about Twilight… things felt a lot harder. They’d probably expect her to help out somehow.

“Do you think you could be nicer to Twilight? She did her best in taking care of you after all,” Trixie said.

“Just be friends with her, and I’m sure that you’ll make her feel a lot better,” Trixie said. She paused for a moment, and then it sunk in. “Wait, you did all that for her?”

Valiant nodded.

“But you’re a filly! She can’t, you can’t… this doesn’t feel right,” Trixie said.

“A-are you tell me that you will help, because you can, or that you will help no matter what?” Trixie asked.

Valiant nodded.

“Smart flank,” Trixie mumbled under her breath.

“I heard that,” Maud said monotonously.

First she had to deal with a filly that was too mature for her age, and quite obstinate when she felt like it. Trixie wasn’t sure she could handle hearing a lecture from Maud on how to talk to a filly. Trixie buried her head into her forelegs and moaned.

“So, Trixie. We’re leaving to Hollow Shades soon. What are we doing with Valiant?” Maud asked.

Valiant gave a huff and tapped her hoof a couple of times in annoyance.

“We could take her along,” Trixie said. “But I have to warn you, Val. Me and Maud are going to be making love, a lot.”

“Trixie!” Maud exclaimed.

Valiant rolled her eyes.

“You could also stay at Rarity’s. That way you would get to hang out with Sweetie Belle a lot,” Trixie suggested.

Valiant shook her head.

“She doesn’t trust Rarity,” Maud said. “She only trusts Twilight because she remembers Twilight saving her. Maybe she could stay there.”

“We can’t leave her at Twilight’s for that long! Twilight can barely even figure out how to change the toilet paper roll by herself,” Trixie exclaimed.

Trixie’s eyes widened. “And you want to stay there for a few days? Why would you want that?”

“No,” Trixie stated. “We’ll just take you along for our honeymoon.”

“Lulu, don’t you think that she deserves a say too?” Maud asked. “I don’t want her to stay somewhere dangerous, but you know as well as I do that we need to listen to her opinion.”

“Well…” Trixie said.

“Val surprised us with breakfast in bed a few days ago. So she can cook. She also cleans up her own messes… usually. She even does chores around the house. So of course she feels mature enough to stay with Twilight,” Maud explained.

“I would have thought that you would want to keep her close,” Trixie said.

“I do.”

“Then why are you arguing for her?” Trixie asked.

Maud leaned into Trixie’s ear and whispered. “You are really, really loud when playing with toys.”

Fire raced across Trixie’s face and she had to look in anyplace other than Maud. “You… selfish… I… I can’t argue with that!”

Maud shook her head. “We still need to bring her along.”

“Oh, you think?” Trixie said sarcastically.

“Twilight’s going out of town for a few days, something about her royal duty,” Maud said.

“Royal duty?” Trixie asked. “I don’t think Twilight can even wipe without Spike around.”

Valiant choked, and tried to stop a giggle from escaping her mouth.

“Not that kind,” Maud said flatly.

Trixie grinned. “Yeah I know, doesn’t change what I said. I can’t see her being too awfully useful right now to anypony. Wish I could help.”

The train station was quiet and empty save for Trixie, Maud, Valiant, and of course Twilight Sparkle. Several suitcases lay next to them, and each pony had their own saddlebag. There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky and a warm sun shining down upon them.

 “So where are you sending us again?” Trixie asked.

“Hollow Shades!” Twilight said excitedly. “You’ll love it there, it’s so pretty and nice and all the ponies are just so sweet. In fact it was Maud who came up with the idea. I have lodgings set up for you with a couple of friends of mine. Trust me, my cousin Bookworm and her friend Deedee will take great care of you.”

Who names their kid Bookworm? Honestly, isn’t that just a bit cruel?

“Okay… but aren’t there ghosts and bat ponies in Hollow Shades?” Trixie asked.

“There aren’t any ghosts in the town, and bat ponies are really nice. I’m sure you’ll make a few friends… you know… if you’re not too busy,” Twilight said.

“Busy doing what?” Trixie asked.

Maud leaned into Trixie’s ear and whispered, “Each other.”

Trixie’s face caught flame as she shook her head and closed her eyes tight. “M-Maud! I’m sure that’s not what she meant.”

“I wasn’t clear?” Twilight asked with her head tilted to one side. “I just meant that you two are freshly married, I’m sure that you will be more interested in time with each other than in the town around you. I wouldn’t be surprised if you never even left your room.”

“What!” Trixie exclaimed.

“Shinny and Cadance completely wasted their honeymoon doing the same thing. You can’t even talk to them about it without their faces turning red, kinda like yours. I honestly don’t think they even know that they went to Rainbow Falls,” Twilight said.

Valiant jumped up and down a few times grabbing Trixie’s attention. There was a message waiting for them on her whiteboard.

“It’ll be here shortly, promise,” Trixie said.

Valiant frowned.

“Anyway, one thing you must do after you get there is check out the town at night. Trust me it will take your breath away,” Twilight said. “Also take note of anything my friends tell you to look into. They know the area in and out.”

Off in the distance a black dot appeared along the tracks. Smoke trailed just above it. It was just about time to leave.

“Thanks for all of this. You really are a good friend,” Trixie said.

“Oh don’t worry, I have all of my friends honeymoons planned out as well,” Twilight said.

“B-but how? Rainbow Dash isn’t even dating anypony!” Trixie exclaimed.

“So? I have several different places set up depending on who she marries, their interests, and whether they can fly or not,” Twilight said casually.

“You’re insane,” Trixie said.

“Your point is?” Twilight replied.

The train noisily rolled into the station before slowing to a halt. The passenger doors opened and several ponies got out. Trixie looked back at Twilight one last time. “Thanks again.”

“Don’t mention it, Trixie. You’ve sacrificed enough for us, just take this time to rest and enjoy yourselves,” Twilight said. “You deserve it.”