Chapter 115 - Refreshing
The trek to Sweet Apple Acres felt shorter than Trixie remembered. It hardly took any time at all before Trixie and Fluttershy were strolling along the winding path between the apple trees. However, the scenery didn’t change for ages after that. Just more and more apple trees on all sides.
“Gah, are we there yet? Trixie’s hooves are aching.”
“I’m sorry, but I think we’re about halfway through the orchard… Uhm, do you want to take a break?”
Trixie groaned, but she didn’t slow down. “No. Trixie’s fine. Just this trip didn’t feel as long the first time, then again… Big Mac was carrying Trixie that time.”
“Oh, that was nice of him,” Fluttershy said in what might have been a quarter of a tone lower than normal. Trixie couldn’t quite tell.
Just a little too late, it dawned on Trixie that she knew Fluttershy was the jealous type. “Erm, Trixie supposes so, but he was so sweaty. Trixie wouldn’t have put up with it had it not been the best way to return to you as soon as possible.” It was still an alien notion to get used to, that such a sweet thing could harbor feelings like that. Then again, didn’t jealously usually stem from insecurity? Fluttershy had that in spades.
Fluttershy gave Trixie a puzzled look, then looked ahead again. “Uhm, okay…”
What does that mean? Trixie watched Fluttershy silently for a while, mentally tearing her mane out, until Trixie narrowly avoided an apple tree that came out of nowhere. Which was clearly it’s fault, and not in any way inattentiveness on Trixie’s part. After that, she made sure to watch the path instead.
“Trixie? About, uhm… about Rainbow Dash…”
Trixie stumbled a step. “Yes?”
“After... well, everything we talked about today. I think, maybe we shouldn’t tell her? About the book I mean. Rainbow Dash is a wonderful pony, and I’m sure she will want to help if we tell her, but… she’s not exactly, uhm…”
“Smart?” Trixie offered with a smirk. “Yes, Trixie supposes you may be right. Dash would be liable to fly right up to Twilight, vigorously defend Trixie, and doom her in the process by loudly shouting everything she knows in an misguided attempt to help.”
“That’s an awful thing to say, but, uhm, yes.”
“Trixie wasn’t looking forward to having that conversation twice in one day anyhow.” She shrugged.
“I understand.”
“Trixie can still tell her about Twilight’s accusation, though, right? We’ll just leave out that she was on to something.”
“Yes that’ll be fi—oh, my…” Fluttershy visibly shrank and froze in place, causing Trixie to come to a concerned halt. “There’s going to be a lot of yelling, isn’t there?”
“What are you tal—Oh.” Trixie had not taken into account just what Dash was going to do once she knew. The mere memory of Dash arguing with Nurse Redheart already hurt her ears. “…Yes, this will not be pretty.”
They silently resumed their journey through the orchard.
Truthfully, Trixie would be kidding herself if she tried to pretend she was not actually looking forward to it. On the other hoof, it had never been her goal to sow discord between friends. She was already responsible for straining the relationship between Redheart and Fluttershy, and she didn’t care to repeat the experience.
Trixie tried to take her mind off the inevitable clash that was lying in wait by looking around. But there was nothing to see except the seemingly endless rows of apple trees, leafs, grass, and dirt. Finally, she caught a glimpse of something different off in the distance, away from the path. She only got to see it in between the trees. Some kind of decrepit, derelict treehouse. Before she could get a good look however, it vanished. Probably hidden behind another row of trees, Trixie surmised.
That place is a deathtrap. Trixie hopes nopony goes there anymore.
“Trixie? Was it really necessary to make Angel pink?”
Tearing herself away from attempting to stare through the tree line, Trixie nodded. “Yes,” she said shortly. “But… it was probably a mistake to use transformation magic.”
“What?”
“It still hurts Trixie to use spells like that, it would have been better to use a simple illusion spell instead. Trixie is exceptionally gifted at illusion magic of course, but then the pink fur would have worn off in as little as a week. Transformation is permanent, which is why Trixie went the extra mile,” she said, with as much pride in her voice as any masterful magician. “Well, permanent, until such time as Trixie, or a unicorn of equivalent power, sees fit to undo it.”
“You mean it won’t grow out?”
Trixie’s eyes widened. “…Curses. That’s a thing fur does, isn’t it? Gah! If Trixie had thought about that she woul—Eeek!”
The ground vanished right out from under her hooves. Within half a second she was looking down at the tree tops and still rising. A set of strong forelegs clamped around her chest, and a very familiar, much missed warmth pressing up against her back. “Dashie!”
“I thought I told you not to call me that?” Rainbow Dash grumbled, but she didn’t sound as annoyed as she was trying to make herself out to be. She soared up toward the nearest cloud then looped onto it.
“Puh-lease, Trixie knows you like it, Dashie.” It felt like far too long since they’d been on a cloud. Or, technically, Dash was on the cloud, and Trixie on top of Dash, but such little details hardly mattered.
Dash snorted disapprovingly. “Maybe I’ll just dro—” Dash paused and sniffed the air.
The sky was gorgeous as ever, but Trixie was much more interested in the sight behind her. Taking advantage of Dash’s convenient inattention, she squirmed and rolled over. She even managed it without slipping and falling, though Dash caught a hoof in the ribs.
“Do you sm—Umph!” Dash groaned and glared down at Trixie. “It’s not too late to drop you, you know, Thiefsie.” Dash huffed.
“You’re not going to drop Trixie.”
“Try me. We’re not that high, and I know apple trees are great at breaking a fall.”
“How do you—Ah, Trixie understands.” She smirked, and wrapped her hooves around Rainbow Dash. This had to be Dash’s idea of spending a little bit of time together before dinner. Maybe even to get a few things out of their system before we have an audience? Trixie’s face burned at the thought. Dash had shown a surprising amount of forethought since they started dating, so this must have been part of the plan. A private moment to themselves.
That’s what Trixie loved about being with Dash. When they were together, things were simple. It was nice and obvious what Dash wanted, even without the spontaneous abduction to the nearest cloud. There wasn’t any nervous second guessing herself, no need to attempt to read into unspoken signs. This one she could just grab the mane of, pull close, and kiss if she so felt like it. Which Trixie most certainly did.
“Uhm, girls? Is everything okay?” Fluttershy hovered in the air beside them, just a bit higher than the cloud. She looked down at the two of them with an awkward expression on her face, clearly not comfortable interrupting, or seeing them, like this.
Oh for the love of…
Rainbow Dash noticeably tensed up below Trixie, as if she hadn’t considered at all that Fluttershy was able to fly as well. “H-hey, Fluttershy. Long time no see, hehe. You mind going on ahead? We’ll catch up at dinner, or something.”
“Oh, but I, uhm…” Fluttershy stared at Dash for a long uneasy moment. “Okay… I’ll see you girls soon.” As she said the last words, she gave Trixie a strange look, then dropped out of sight.
What Fluttershy had hoped to accomplish wasn’t clear to Trixie. Nor what that look was supposed to mean. Maybe Trixie is supposed to tell Dash about Fluttershy now? She leaned away to look over the edge of the cloud and saw Fluttershy trotting along the road down below again on her own.
Perhaps she is lonely down there? Trixie should tell Dash.
As soon as she returned her attention to Dash however, Trixie quickly forgot what she was supposed to be talking about. Finally she was face to face, just a snout length away, with the beautiful creature that had eluded her for what felt like centuries. Maybe this was the time for a quip, but as she was drawn closer to her lover’s lips, she settled for something more truthful. “Trixie missed you.” It was silly just how happy it made Trixie to anticipate kissing the brash airhead.
“Cheesy,” Dash said with a smirk, though Trixie felt the pegasus tighten her hold. Despite her token cool comment, Dash craned her neck to lean in for a kiss as well. Before they could actually meet, Dash pulled away all of a sudden. Her nose wrinkled. “Gah! Seriously, what is that smell?”
Confused and disappointed, Trixie glared at Dash. “Quit stalling! Trixie doesn’t smell anything.” She wasn’t about to allow Dash to tease her with denying a simple kiss after all this. But when she leaned in to claim her prize, Dash pulled away again.
“It’s you!” She said, covering her muzzle with her left wing. “Garlic? Really, Trixie? Is this payback for me not splashing myself with flower water last time?”
“What? No! Uh, well, Trixie had some yesterday for dinner, but—Are you suggesting Trixie doesn’t brush? Don’t be ridiculous!” She huffed, but she could feel her face turning red with embarrassment. This wasn’t right. She knew she’d brushed her teeth before bed. Dash had to be exaggerating just to make fun of her!
“You sure? It doesn’t smell like it was from yesterday.” Dash’s eyes actually watered. If she was faking it, she was a much better actress than Trixie had given her credit for.
“Of course Trixie is sure! She didn’t even eat anything today except…” Her face paled half way through the sentence. She couldn’t believe she’d been this stupid, this thoughtless. “…except when Trixie had yesterday’s leftovers for brunch.” Between Twilight’s visit, and her own confession to Fluttershy, her otherwise brilliant mind had not spared her breakfast another thought. It can’t be that bad, can it? Fluttershy would have noticed and told Trixie… Unless she’s too polite to saying anything! Gah, figures!
Rainbow Dash pulled a face. “Uh, ew? You—”
“Shut up.” Trixie interrupted. “Just, just put Trixie back on the ground, so she can sink through it.” Averting her eyes, Trixie couldn’t bare another moment of this. Obviously she’d smelled at least mildly repugnant the whole time, and Dash had only commented on it when it became too much to bare.
Although Dash made some token attempt at talking her out of it, Trixie was having none of it. The mood was fully soured as far as she was concerned, and she just wanted to get downwind of Dash as soon as possible before she actually died of shame. Relenting to Trixie’s muffled demands, Trixie having covered her mouth and squirmed as far away from Dash's face as possible without falling off of her, Dash swooped the two of them back down to the ground.
“Oh, hello girls.” Fluttershy greeted the pair as they caught up to her, apparently she’d been walking slowly until they joined up. She looked from one to the other, then settled on Trixie as she spoke. “That was fast.” She returned her eyes to the road ahead, but not before Trixie noticed a smile on Fluttershy’s lips.
At least one of us is happy…
The remainder of the trip was uneventful. Trixie lingered behind while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy talked. Trixie wasn’t sure what the conversation had been about, something to do with Dash’s new job, and probably something to do with animals. She was too distracted with attempting to smell her own breath.
“Hey, y’all!” Applejack waved at them from the front door of the farmhouse. “Good to see ya could make it. Ah trust there weren’t no trouble finding tha place?”
“Hah, as if I’d have trouble finding the place the cider is made. I could fly here with my eyes closed!” Dash took to the air as she spoke, proudly puffing up her chest as though it were a true achievement.
Applejack merely rolled her eyes. “Reckon that’s what’s got you crashing into mah trees then, ain’t it? Ya should try flying with yer eyes open some time.”
Trixie refrained from commenting, afraid she would make anypony else gag with her bad breath if she spoke. This is awful. Should Trixie just not talk to anypony all night? It wasn’t supposed to be like that. Better yet, Trixie wasn’t going to allow a silly mistake to ruin her whole evening. She straightened up and trotted toward the house.
Leaving the blustering pair to their own devices, Trixie walked past them. She threw Applejack a simple hello in passing, which got Applejack to give her a quick nod in return before reengaging Dash in their argument, which had somehow devolved into a hoof-wrestling match. One which, by the looks of it, Fluttershy had been roped into judging.
Trixie paused before the threshold. “Hey, Applejack, what color is your toothbrush?”
“G-green.” Applejack grunted.
“Thanks.” With that, Trixie quickly stepped inside before applejack would catch on to her intentions. The sweet smell of apple pie was the first thing to greet her the moment she stepped over the threshold. At least, Trixie figured it had to be apple pie; How many other baked goods had apples in them after all?
The Apple family’s homestead hadn’t changed since Trixie’s last visit a week ago, or so Trixie assumed, but she still had a hard time finding her way around. Some features of the rooms were vaguely familiar, like the colors and one of the paintings, but much of it she didn’t remember at all.
Well, Trixie wasn’t strictly conscious when she passed through here the first time she supposes.
What she did know was that bedrooms were one floor above her. It did not take long to find the stairs and only slightly longer to locate the right door. As expected, most of the other doors were bedrooms, but the last one took her into the bathroom.
“Excellent, now then… red… yellow… green!” She held the toothbrush aloft in her magic with a smirk. Sure, using somepony else’s toothbrush wasn’t the most pleasant prospect, but it was still leagues above the thought of letting her whole night be ruined by some bad breath. Certain sacrifices had to be made. Such as some of Trixie’s dignity and Applejack’s privacy. That evened out, right?
“It’s better to ask forgiveness than permission.” Trixie told her wonderfully grinning self in the mirror. “Maybe Trixie won’t even tell her.”
The sound of somepony stampeding up the stairs alerted Trixie to the fact that Applejack had perhaps caught on.
Curses! Too soon! Where is the lock on this thing?! Trixie fumbled with the door while the hoofsteps drew closer. A brief inspection revealed there wasn’t even a doorknob on the stupid thing, let alone a lock! It was nothing more than a heavy push door that swung both ways, as though nopony in the Apple family had ever heard of privacy. Trixie lit up her horn. This better work!
“Trixie!” Applejack called out before a dull thud announced she’d ran into the door. “What tha hay? This door ain’t got no locks.” Two more thuds followed before the sound was replaced by that of a hoof banging on the door. “Trixie! Ah know yer in there. Ya got till tha count of three ta open this door before Ah buck it down, ya hear?”
“Hah, good luck!” There was no doubt in her mind Applejack could kick down a simple door under normal circumstances, but this was no ordinary door anymore. Trixie flinched as the first kick shook the walls and knocked over the glass with toothbrushes, tumbling them all into the sink. Maybe taunting Applejack had been a bad idea. Another few kicks like that and the house might come down!
“Ah mean it!”
"Uhm, uh. Trixie's just... Will need a moment to open the door for, uh, reasons." Maybe she could just gargle with some toothpaste real quick instead, or something.
Trixie could hear wingbeats outside the door, and the banging stopped. There were voices in the hallway but Trixie couldn’t quite make them out until Rainbow Dash spoke up. “Uh, Trixie? What are you doing? This isn’t cool, or uh, well, I mean, it’s kind of cool that you got AJ to admit I’m stronger than her—”
“—Ah said no such thing! Ah had ta go! Ah didn’t say ya won!”
“Hey, a forfeit is a loss, AJ. I’m in the lead!” Although Trixie couldn’t see it, she just knew Dash was doing some ridiculous midair loop with a smug grin on her face. “Hah!”
“It don’t count if it’s sabotage! That’s cheating!”
“Says who?”
“’Says who’!? Ah-Ah don’t rightly know how ta respond to that!”
What a shock that Dash would take any excuse to win. Trixie had to clamp her hooves around her muzzle to keep from laughing too loudly.
After what Trixie could only imagine had to be a moment of silent dirty looks between the two ponies in the hall, Applejack spoke to her again. “Anyhow, Trixie, there’s better ways ta fix this, ya know.”
“Fix what?”
"Yer garlic breath! What, ya figured Ah can't smell nuttin’ but apples?"
Oh, great. She noticed too. Trixie felt her face burn up. "Well, that's what Dashie told Trixie."
"Stop calling me that!"
"Oh, did she now?"
Going by the tone of voice, Trixie estimated Applejack would be busy with Dash for a moment. It was now or never. Once again, magic proved to be the absolute best thing in the world. It took no time at all to quickly rinse the brush, squeeze some toothpaste over it, and begin brushing her teeth. All the while, she could hear Applejack and Dash yelling at one another right outside, conveniently masking any noise she was making.
"Look, AJ, I can't help it if that's what it looks like. You’re always on about those things, and you have them for EVERY meal! What else was I supposed to think?” Another moment of silence passed. ”Uhm, you know what? I didn’t say that. Nope. I said you always smell like apples! Totally different thing."
A dull slap, as though somepony’s hoof collided with their own forehead, sounded through the door. “Sure ya did, Dash.” Another knock on the door. “Trixie? Do ya know what’s the natural enemy of garlic? Apples.”
Dash groaned. “See! This is what I’m talking about. Apples are your answer to everything.”
“It aint mah fault that tha apple is tha most versatile fruit in Equestria, Rainbow. Fer yer information, the polyphenols, which are one of them compounds that act like antioxidants, found in yer every day apples break down tha smelly sulfur compounds in garlic. So—why you looking at me like that?”
“… Egghead.”
“Darnit, Rainbow.”
Most of the unexpected apple science lecture had gone over Trixie’s head, but the key point stuck with her. Frozen in place, she stared down at the green toothbrush handle sticking out of her mouth, then slowly panned her gaze toward the door. You’ve got to be kidding Trixie. she spat the thing out into the sink.
“You’re telling Trixie that just eating apples would have cleared up her breath?” The realization slowly sunk in that if she hadn’t done anything, the problem would have solved itself. Most of the dinner would no doubt be comprised of apples. “Uh, right. Trixie knew that. Trixie’s just… getting some water. She’ll come out now.” The night was still young, and Trixie had already made a fool of herself twice. She shook her head, hastily cleaned and placed the toothbrush back in its holder, and then made her way to the door.
“Water, huh? Well, let’s talk no more of it. Now can ya unlock or unbar tha darn door?” she knocked on the door impatiently, obviously anxious to see her toothbrush unharmed.
Trixie chuckled as she pushed open the door and trotted out. The glow of her horn dulled. “Trixie didn’t do anything to the door,” she said while she grinned at a stunned Applejack who was still knocking on a piece of solid wall three feet to the left of the actual door, “you just misplaced it.”
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WTF!
Trixie tricked AJ into kicking a piece of wood at the side! Hah, classic!
Garlic breath, eww.
And Angel Bunny's fur growing out?
Well, I guess 1/3 is still good enough. But seriously what was with the random lecture on apple anatomy? Where di you even read that or did you make that up?
Aj's an egghead! Nerd!
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/10/2/733895__safe_applejack_parody_adorkable_artist-colon-zacatron94_joke_egghead_nerd+pony_artist-colon-muddyfudger_uncle+tom's+cabin.png
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I know, right?
Though I like garlic, so I feel like a bit of a hypocrite when I judge someone for smelling like garlic.
Think of it like dyeing your hair. After a week your roots are showing. Same concept.
I did not make it up, it's a real thing! Once I learned about it I figured Applejack would know it too. Labor of love and all that.
It felt like it would be funny to have AJ show very specific knowledge, limited to the field of apples.
The pic doesn't work.
5990031 Soooo, when's Rainbow and Trixie hitting second base?
It's good to see Dashie (lol) again, i hope she will be in a bit more now. Of course Rainbow never misses a chance to call someone an egghead. Trixie's pretty devious, tricking Applejack into kicking the wall. Not sure how well that would work though, if my bathroom door suddenly moved several feet, i think I'd notice. Perfect timing on releasing this, just in time for a break in what has so far been a 9 hour study session with at least an hour left.
i do that quite often
5990127
Do you even still retain information past four hours? 
Trixie shares your desire for more Rainbow Dash. Good thing they are about to have dinner together.
We'll just blame AJ's lack of spacial awareness on how much of a hurry she is in to stop Trixie, or more magic.
A... a 9 hour study session?
5990684
You misplace doors?
5990084
That would be telling.
Seems like there's nothing to worry about... until Trixie drops the news about her & Shy. Dinner will consist of jaw dropping, spit takes, fainting & minds being blown.
Cap.
___________________
5991568
Yep. And I hope this is one of the fics where Dashie likes Flutters, and wouldn't mind sharing her + another as special someponies. But yes, many minds will be blown.
5990978 only when i get home from work at 4 A.M
5990978
The dinner should be intersting, I'm really interested in seeing that.
I didn't think about trixie using magic to mess with AJ's mind. I'm sure there are no consequences to doing that.
My study session was practice problems, not going over notes. Each one took about an hour to do and took up a whole page of paper. So there wasn't a huge amount of information going through my head, just a ton of sustained effort. My three hardest classes have midterms this week so my week is pretty much going to be straight studying. but yeah, it can effect retention a bit. That's why I tend to forget details in fanfics, i'm cramming a whole bunch of stuff into my head and MLP fanfics aren't very high on the list of stuff to remember.
I actually want to know that as well.
I agree with Zalla, and jxj, and Sniper, and The Great Eater. Oh, and probably Crowscrowcrow too.
The coming dinner will be monumentous and amazing, with hearts crushed and lives destroyed. Surely Dash will put Twilight in the hospital! AJ may demand a new toothbrush, in Trixie's blood! Friendships will be ruined, crushes known, and Applebloom will hear far more than was ever meant for a filly her age!
If New Fluttershy can't cuddle with Trixie, then nopony will! NO PONY!
5991568
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5990084
5992379
The specifics of getting to second base is surprisingly difficult when you're working with hooves, equine anatomy, and a teen rating.
On the other hand... I suppose wings and horns might be perfect for that.
I'd consider that having your priorities straight in terms of retention. Good luck on your midterms.
5991617
Thanks for the heads up. Fixed.
5997246
No pressure, huh?
6002150
You're welcome ^_^.
6002150 wings/horn would work. Several stories i've read put the adult content in a side story to keep the teen rating.
Two midterms down, 1 to go.
So cheesy, Twilight's afraid of it.
ci.memecdn.com/939/9185939.jpg
Also, knowing that they were meeting Dash at dinner, one would have thought that Fluttershy, who apparently feels jealousy, purposely gave Trixie garlic burritos to prevent them from kissing right away. She couldn't be that devious.
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Could she?
7327658
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Poor Twilight.
i.imgur.com/NgYAEmx.gif
Beware the quiet ones.
7327658
7327902
That video shows in part of it that she's actually a master manipulator. Even pointing out that she manipulated Discord into friendship. So yes, Fluttershy's two secret super abilities are extreme knitting (she can even knit a functional balloon), and beyond Celestia level Chess Master.
Seems like Fluttershy is really convincing in exceptionally subtle ways.