Chapter 78 - River
A noisy landing outside disturbed Trixie’s nap. She blinked slowly while she tried to remember what she had been doing, besides leaning against the door and dozing off. Mhm, oh right the mud… Glancing down, Trixie was pleased to see the mud on her legs had mostly turned to sand. A few quick taps outside wi—”Whaaah!”
Without warning, Trixie’s support suddenly gave way, and she literally tumbled out the door. It all happened so fast all she saw was a rainbow-colored blur holding the door, before she fell into the mud.
“Whoa, that’s new! Are you alright, Trixie?” Rainbow Dash bowed over her with concern.
Taking a moment to examine herself, Trixie concluded she was just fine, but now her whole right half was covered in mud. She glared up at Dash. “You foal! Don’t you ever knock?!”
The concern on Dash’s face quickly turned to a grin, and barely suppressed mirth. “I’ll take that as a yes.” She laughed while she reached a hoof out to help Trixie up. “You were waiting for me, huh?”
“Trixie was not. Not intentionally anyway…” With a little help, she climbed back onto her hooves and looked down at her muddy coat with a grimace. “Just great. What are you being so cheerful about anyway? Trixie thought you’d be tired after working all day, or if not that, certainly from thinking all day.”
“That’s easy. I had a really boring day, and you amuse me.” Showing a teasing grin, Rainbow Dash motioned at Trixie’s dirty coat. “Hey it’s not all bad, at the spa ponies pay good bits for a mud bath you know, or so Rarity claims anyway.” She looked Trixie over for a moment then looked at the door. “Though… I guess Fluttershy wouldn’t like it if you go in like that.”
A sinister idea sprung to mind, and Trixie put on her most innocent smile. “Oh, well Trixie has a great idea for how to get rid of at least half of this stuff…” While Dash was still distracted, she lunged and wrapped her hooves around her, pulling her into a tight muddy hug.
“Gah! Hey lemme go! You’re filthy!” Dash struggled in Trixie’s grasp, beating her wings to try to escape.
“What’s wrong? At the spa they pay good bits for this!” Trixie laughed while she fought to keep a hold of Dash. While the both of them were concentrating on their impromptu wrestling match, they forgot one rather important part of the sport: keeping one’s balance. With a splash, both ponies ended up back in the mud.
Dash sputtered and spit up a mouthful of mud. “Blargh! You’re evil! That’s it! It’s on now!” To Trixie’s delight, it seemed Dash had already forgotten her reprimand the previous night, and was determined to see this ‘fight’ through.
“Was there ever any doubt!?” Trixie crowed. She was already a mess, so it wasn’t as if she cared about getting worse.
What began as a fight to stay cleaner than the other, quickly devolved into one to ensure the other was at least as bad, or worse off. After an epic showdown that, in Trixie’s estimation, might have made an Equestrian Mudwrestling record if anypony had been there to witness it, both ponies finally came to a stop. Due to the thick coating of mud Trixie could not even open one of her eyes anymore by the time she rested in the dirt with Dash holding her down.
“Is that, hah, the best, hah, you’ve got?” Trixie panted, exhausted, but grinning up at Dash.
Ever the athlete, Rainbow Dash barely even look winded. “Phu-lease, I told you I’d come out on top easily. I’ve had more trouble helping AJ hold down Winona for a bath.”
Since it was clear to her she wasn’t going to escape any time soon, Trixie changed tactics and wrapped her hooves around Dash. With a huff, she looked the other way. “You’ve merely won a battle, but the war goes on! Still…” She gave her a sideways glance from her good eye, and shifted her tone to a more alluring one. “To the victor go the spoils.”
With a confused look, Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “Spoils? Ohhh, those spoils.” Pushing herself up, Dash ran her eyes over Trixie for a moment then stuck out her tongue and made a gagging noise. “Yuck, you sure look like you’ve spoiled—Oompfh!”
Glaring daggers, Trixie jabbed Rainbow Dash in the ribs, drawing a grunt from her. “Trixie is not spoiled goods! Besides it’s not like you are any better, Dashie.”
Rubbing her sore side, Dash groaned at Trixie. “Ugh, don’t call me that. It’s not cool.” She gave Trixie one final surprise push into the mud, then climbed back onto her hooves. “Let’s clean this gunk off at the creek, Fluttershy would flip if we went in like this. Uh, okay, I guess she wouldn’t show it, but still.”
Trixie sputtered to get the muck out of her mouth. “Bleh. You know, you are really awful at taking hints.” Rolling over onto her hooves, Trixie got up with a shiver. She felt at least twice as heavy while she trudged after Dash towards the creek that ran through the meadow.
There was a small bridge built over the stream, ensuring the path to the cottage was free from wet hooves. Trixie had passed over it often, but it never really occurred to her to use the flowing water for anything. She simply associated it with yet another animal den, otters and weasels or something. Maybe Fluttershy’s rubbing off on Trixie?
To Trixie’s surprise, Rainbow Dash hopped in without a moment’s hesitation, chasing away a school of fish in the process. Dash waded in until the water came up to her shoulders, then ran her wings and mane through the stream, rinsing off and restoring her bright colors. It was a sight Trixie could watch forever.
“Trixie, are you just going to stand there forever?”
Blushing, Trixie snapped out of her trance and realized she’d been caught staring. she quickly shook her head. “S-shut up. Don’t you have any concept of a ‘moment’? You’re hopeless.” Following her example, Trixie leaped from the shore into the stream.
“Heh, that’s more like it. I happen to know you clean up nicely.” Rainbow Dash smirked as she watched Trixie jump.
Diving under water, what Trixie had expected to be nice water turned out to be nearly freezing. She surfaced with a gasp in shock and tensed up all over, pressing her legs against her body to vainly try to shield at least some small part of it. “C-c-cold!” She stared at Rainbow Dash, who had not shown a single sign of just how cold the stream was. “W-why are you f-fine!? Trixie thought the water would be nice!”
Rainbow Dash looked confused for a moment, but soon she started laughing. She rose one hoof to her head while she composed herself just enough to reply. “Are you kidding me? I’m a pegasus! We don’t get cold. Normal ponies would freeze to death twice over if they tried to fly half as high as we do!”
“T-tell Trixie s-sooner!” She turned around to get out as quickly as possible, trotting back onto the grass. Dripping with cold water, Trixie shivered as a cool gust of wind felt as though it might have been the breath of a Windigo. “T-this is the w-worst! Trixie’s g-going inside.”
Rainbow Dash tilted her head while she looked up at Trixie from the water. “Come on, Trixie, it’s just a little water. Being cold is no reason to be such a baby.” She grinned while she swam on her back along the surface, spitting up a little stream of water. The sun created a miniature rainbow in the arch.
Feeling her eye twitch, Trixie glared Rainbow Dash. “O-oh yeah? Y-you sure went for the h-hearth fast last night!”
Coughing up the remains of the water, Rainbow Dash shifted to stand up straight with an embarrassed look on her face. “Hey! That’s totally different! I was really cold.”
Shivering, Trixie rolled her eyes, and turned away. “W-whatever…” There was no way she was going to spend any more energy on arguing. She was already tired, and now she could add freezing to the list. At least she was relatively clean after that. All that was left was avoiding the mud puddle in front of the door.
“Trixie? Where are you going?” Rainbow Dash called out from the stream.
Under other circumstances, a dip into the stream might have actually been nice. If the weather had been hot, or if she was on fire. Now that she thought about it, perhaps it was worth remembering the next time she had a migraine. This was not one of those times.
Trixie grumbled annoyed, but made no effort to respond anymore. She heard a splash behind her while she trotted back home. On some level, Trixie begrudgingly wondered if maybe she really was getting soft. Under Fluttershy’s care she’d gotten used to being nice and warm all the time.
Once she’d made it about a quarter of the way, Trixie’s thoughts were interrupted when something wet and cold fell on her back. Startled by the chilling sudden attack, she looked to her right as just as suddenly Rainbow Dash had appeared beside her. It took Trixie a second to connect the dots, but as she craned her neck to check, it became obvious Dash had draped a soaked wing over her. Apparently Rainbow Dash thought it was just hilarious, because she was smiling all the while. Great, like Trixie wasn’t cold enough.
Rainbow Dash trotted alongside Trixie, keeping her accursed frostbite-inducing wing on her back the whole time. “Is, uhm, that better?”
It took Trixie off guard. Not so much the question itself, but the sincere tone. She knew how Dash spoke when she was teasing or being sarcastic, and this definitely wasn’t it. Trixie let her gaze swap from Dash to the icy wing and back. “…Yes.” She smiled warmly, leaning against Dash as they walked the rest of the way. “Much better.”
Foggy clouds of steam drifted through the bathroom, as warm water poured into the tub.
“It should be ready in a minute.” Rainbow Dash pushed away from the faucets, dropping back on all four hooves.
“This was a great idea, Trixie approves.” Trixie looked into the tub, longing for the touch of the warm water. Breaking her gaze away, she looked back at Dash. “Say, uhm, Trixie thought… maybe it would be good to save some water, and share it?”
“Huh? Yeah sure.” Rainbow Dash smiled, then her eyes widened suddenly. “Oh! That’s right! Do you want to hear what I came up with? Wait. Actually, I had some questions I wanted to ask first.”
Blinking confused, Trixie took a minute to catch up. “Uh, what you came up with? Ah!” Trixie could feel her cheeks flush. “Do you mean for the date? Yes! Wait, no. There’s something Trixie has to tell you first. Fluttershy was curious, and she wanted to be there when we discussed this.”
Rainbow Dash raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Uh, Trixie, are you sure you understood that right? Speaking of Fluttershy, where is she? I thought she’d be back from her chores by now.”
Trixie puffed up her chest. “Do not doubt Trixie, she’s sure. It’s ju—Gah! That’s right!” She quickly reached forward and grabbed Dash by the neck, pulling her in closely while she whispered conspiratorially. “Listen, this is very important. If Fluttershy asks, you blew off work today and did her chores.”
“What? Trixie, friends don’t lie.” Rainbow Dash apparently felt the need to give her another lecture. Fortunately, like everything Dash did, they were fast.
Groaning, Trixie rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, of course they don’t.” She knew Dash meant well, aiming to teach her how to be better, but she didn’t want a lesson right now. “But Fluttershy was sick, and she had so many chores. She did not think Trixie could handle it, and she would only stay in bed when Trixie said you’d do her chores.”
Rainbow Dash tilted her head, and gave Trixie a smile somewhere between amusement and wonderment. “So… you did all of Fluttershy’s chores, all on your own, even though you’re hurt. Just so Fluttershy could rest up, and you want me to take credit for it?”
Finally Dash was catching on. “Yes.” Trixie answered without hesitation.
Dash pulled out of the conspiratory hold. “No.”
Trixie blinked in confusion. “What do you mean ‘no’? Trixie just got through explaining this. You don’t even have to lie, just say something like ‘Hey, Fluttershy, the chores are taken care of.’ That is all Trixie asks!”
“You’re missing the point. If Fluttershy was worried you couldn’t do it, then now you’ve proven you can.”
“But that means telling Fluttershy Trixie was lying to her! What if she gets mad at Trixie?” Though Trixie did not truly believe Fluttershy was really capable of getting mad, she knew the kind of sad, hurt look that Fluttershy would give, and that was even worse.
“Yeah, she’ll probably be upset. You should’ve thought of that before hoof.”
“But, but…” Trixie stopped trying. The look on Rainbow Dash’s face told her it was clearly useless. Trixie sat down on her haunches and folded her hooves over her chest. “Trixie thought you were supposed to be the element of loyalty, not honesty…” She grumbled.
Rainbow Dash smirked and turned her attention back to the bathtub, dipping one hoof in the water to check the temperature. “And I thought you were The Great and Powerful Trixie, not deceitful.” She pulled her hoof out of the water and looked at it for a moment while the water dripped down. “Huh, you know… On second thought, maybe you should check if it’s warm enough.”
The remark stung. Trixie glared at Rainbow Dash, but she was not about to argue with her over it. If Rainbow Dash was not going to cover for her, then Trixie supposed her best course of action was to tell Fluttershy before she found out some other way. Trixie will check on her after the bath, then tell her. If she sees Trixie is a mess she might catch on too soon.
Following Dash’s advice, Trixie helped get the bath ready. It was not as though she really needed to do much, merely dip her hoof in the water and nod in approval. “It’s fine. So what was it that you wanted to ask Trixie?”
“Oh, uhm. I was wondering. You see, I was trying to think of places we could go, but how do you feel about going into Ponyville these days? If you’re not okay with it, I can work with that, but I thought I should ask you before I overcomplicate it.” Once the water reached high enough, Dash took notice and turned off the faucet. “Alright, looks good.”
“Are you sure you can’t read minds a little bit too? Trixie was just thinking about that earlier today.” She looked down at the floor. “To be honest… Trixie does not feel safe in Ponyville… She spoke to the mailmare that came by, who heard a lot of bad things about Trixie.”
Dash nodded sympathetically, reaching out to touch Trixie’s foreleg. “Hey, I get it. You really have some of the worst timing for visiting Ponyville. First time an ursa comes, and second time a dragon. It’s not your fault, but it does get ponies talking, you know? It’s okay to be scared.” She gave a soft grin, and chuckled while she spoke, “hay, even I’m a little worried what will show up next if we go into town now.”
Trixie lifted her gaze up to meet with Dash’s, and just lingered there for a moment, drinking in the sight. For all the coolness obsessed teasing and joking around, Dash really did have a caring side to her that shone through at the best times. “But...” Showing a smile, Trixie leaned forward to warp Dash into a hug. “…You make Trixie feel safe. So, if it’s with you, Trixie thinks it will be fine.”
Returning the embrace, Rainbow Dash blinked surprised for a moment while she listened. “Trixie…” Her lips wore a warm smile while she leaned in closer, eyes half-lidded.
Feeling her heart skip a beat at the sight, Trixie mimicked the motions, forgetting all about how cold she was supposed to be. Their last kiss, just that morning, felt like it had been eons ago, and Trixie was eager to experience it again. She could feel the warmth radiating from Dash on her muzzle already before they even touched.
“H-hey girls! A-are you in here? Oh! Am I, uhm, interrupting? I’m sorry, s-should I come back later?” Fluttershy’s voice, despite being soft and sweet as usual, had all the romantic effect of a bucket of ice water. It made Trixie and Rainbow Dash swiftly pull away from each other, and turn to face her.
“F-Fluttershy, good you’re awake.”
“H-hey, Fluttershy. No, it’s, uh, fine. ”
Trixie gritted her teeth in frustration while she did her best to keep a smile on her lips. Lips that almost had met with Dash’s. Five seconds later! That’s all Trixie asks for! She tried to remind herself that it wasn’t Fluttershy’s fault, and that she was supposed to be happy to see she was doing better, still she had trouble shaking the resentment. “How are you feeling, Fluttershy?”
“Oh, much bet—” Fluttershy’s eyes widened when they ran over Trixie, spotting the remains of mud in her fur. “Trixie! Oh my goodness, what happened? Did you fall? Are you okay?” Fluttershy quickly came closer to examine Trixie. She ran her hooves through the mare’s mane, moving it aside and checking for any bumps or bruises on Trixie’s head.
Rainbow Dash seemed to have properly recovered. “She’s fine, Fluttershy. It’s just dirt. I was a little rough with her, I’m sorry.” She motioned to the prepared bath. “That should take care of everything though.”
With Fluttershy tending to her with such care and attention, Trixie couldn’t possibly stay mad at her. She reached up to Fluttershy’s hooves and gently brought them back down to the ground. Smiling, Trixie nodded. “Trixie’s actually feeling really good today, so don’t worry, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy looked relieved, and took a step back, giving Trixie some breathing room. “Oh, I’m sorry. It’s good to hear you’re doing well Trixie. I guess I was just worried since you two were gone all day.” She gave a quick look around the bathroom, noting if anything was missing then turned her attention back to Trixie. “Uhm, okay well, looks like you’re all set. Do you remember where you can find everything, Trixie?”
“Trixie has it under control.” Naturally, it was not the first time Trixie had used the bath. At first it had taken a little getting used to, and finding the towels had taken longer than she cared to admit. She’d since proven she could manage without assistance, though Fluttershy still insisted the door stayed unlocked at all times, just in case.
“Oh, good. Just call out if you need anything okay? The floor might be slippery so be careful and—”
“Fluttershy, I’m pretty sure she can handle some water.” Rainbow Dash chuckled and shook her head.
Blushing embarrassed, Fluttershy looked away. “Oh, uhm, right. Rainbow Dash? I’m sorry to ask you for yet another chore today, but could you help me, uhm, get dinner started? If you don’t mind that is?”
Rainbow Dash looked over at Trixie for a moment, giving an apologetic look. “Yeah, sure, Fluttershy. I’ll help.” Trotting after Fluttershy, apparently content to cover for Trixie at least a little bit. The door closed behind them, leaving Trixie to bathe in peace.
Trixie was pretty sure Dash was only playing along to give her time to get cleaned up and have a proper conversation with Fluttershy. If she had to guess, it probably was her way of apologizing for bailing on her. Sighing deeply, Trixie climbed into the bathtub, at least the warm water was soothing.
There will be a lot for Trixie to talk about at dinner…
For the time being however, Trixie was more than happy to let the warmth wash over her tired limbs, and think of nothing else for a while.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed.
A bit of a longer chapter today.
I'm sure nobody will mind. 
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Such cuteness! I loved this~
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Hmm... I still feel that sabotage waiting, like a hot cup of coffee for an energised day of work.
Good chapter. Have you run across the theory that Rainbow's and applejack's elements are swapped before?
4816363
I'm glad,
4816428
Don't look at me.
Blame Fluttershy.
4816490
There may, or may not, be some of that going on already, for a while.
4817303
Yes I have come across it before, and I found it quite credible.
4817555
Same here. I've only seen a couple of examples of it though. I'm going to go through the series with a fine toothed comb to come up with examples for that theory and a couple of others.
4817642
Be sure to keep track of both points in favor and points against.
I'd be interested in your findings.
Mostly I get the sense that through insulting bluntness or sarcasm, Dash is often very honest about her opinion without a filter.
Meanwhile, AJ is incredibly reliable and supportive..
Though counter examples may well be easy to find, so complete data would go a long way.
4817708
I'll keep you posted. I hope to start next week, but I'm not sure how long it'll take.
Nice chapter mate, I'm sure no one will complain for it being longer
A few of funny stuff happened as I was reading this. First off, I was playing music as I read this (just had a thing randomly flick through songs), and the ones that played for the trixdash scenes were 'I will always love you' and 'love lifts us up where we belong', so perfect
Then something that had me randomly laughing hard was: The second Fluttershy came in I said 'Five seconds later! That’s all I'm asking for Fluttershy!' then I read the line that was the exact same thing, I think I'm becoming psychically linked with Trixie
4817303 I've always found AJ to be just as loyal as RD but I don't feel it's same the other way round
4817784
I can vaguely recall a scene where Rainbow dash was more honest than Applejacks. That's why im doing the analysis before I start strongly advocating anything.
4817809 There probably one or two examples like that in the series, but character wise I think AJ's much more honest and at least as loyal as Dash
4817868
I'm not disagreeing with you at this point. Do you want me to let you know when I finished my analysis?
4817881 Don't worry I know your not disagreeing, I'm just saying that's what I think
and yes please tell me when you're done, I'm always interested in hearing other bronies theories 
4817784
I'll bet not. I was really close to cutting it at the icy wing scene, just cause it felt like it was such a nice ending, but that would have been a bit too short, so I compromised.
Those are some amazing coincidences, maybe you really are syncing up to her.
4817925 was there ever any doubt?
"“Hey, I get it. You really have some of the worst timing for visiting Ponyville. First time an ursa comes, and second time a dragon. It’s not your fault"
You never know Trixie,it could be parasprites or Cerberus visiting next.
4818074
That would be crazy.
4817898
I'm not making a guarantee on time. I have a lot of things taking my time right now. I'm planning to start watching the series next week.
4818106 next it'll be a lord of chaos or someone who wants to steal everponies magic. I mean can you imagine that?!
4818151 take your time, mate, we all got our shit to deal with
This is a tricky one. Technically EoL is a proper noun / name of the element, so it'd get capped. But Honesty is also a name of that particular element, but it's also a talked about as a character trait not the element itself ... I don't think. So I don't know if it should be capped like Loyalty would, or if it'd stay lowercased.
_____________________
seperate.
_____________
Worst timing ever, but I guess that's okay. Since Flutters hasn't had the kissy faces yet.
Fluttershy, cockblocker extraordinaire.
Corrections;
'“Gah! Hey lemme go! You’re filty!”' should be '“Gah! Hey lemme go! You’re filthy!”'
and
fimfiction didn't show the skipped line between “F-Fluttershy, good you’re awake.” and “H-hey, Fluttershy. No, it’s, uh, fine. ”
Comments;
That's gonna help with the trial.
This is making me laugh so hard for reasons I'll not delve into here.
I so knew this would happen.
5412907
It's karma for when Trixie pulls this stunt:
Yeah, if they ever call Rainbow Dash to the stand, Trixie is doomed.
PM is still open.
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5364205 For what it's worth, the source material doesn't capitalize "element of (laughter, loyalty, etc)", but it does capitalize "Elements of Harmony".
Zecora, naturally.
Speaking of whom, wasn't there a moment in Bridle Gossip where four Trixies (and two Trixie recolors) appear in the same shot?
6763726
Actually the source material does capitalize them. As do the trading cards, and in proper grammar they'd get capitalized. Since they are both the names of the Elements themselves, the titles bestowed upon the group that are the Elements of Harmony, as well as proper nouns. All of which on their own would mean they'd get capitalized.
6763738
Let's see:
At 20:04. Yes.
But then again this was before the Changeling Invasion, and we all know the Ling's have good taste in ponies. After all they are massive Dr. Whooves fans, and used Time Turner as their base for their Dr. Whooves Comicon disguise. So it's no wonder they'd pick the hottest magician of all time.
Who knows how many Changeling Fan's Trixie's gained from all of her shows.