Trot Buddies!

by shortskirtsandexplosions

Cell Mates

“Unf!” Flash Sentry collapsed onto his belly in the corner of a dead-end cavern filled with piles of junk. “Myuuuuuuuu...”

Slam! A rusted metal gate closed, sealing the two teenagers inside a barred cell. Canine guards on the other side snorted and made faces.

“Gather your energy, poniesssssss!” Rover huffed, smirking proudly to himself. “The dig continuessss tonight! Yessss! Yesssssssssss! More goodsssss for trade!!!”

“You said it, Rover!”

“Clever thinking, Rover!”

“Woof!”

Trixie exhaled, blowing a tuft of pale mane hair out from her face. Considerably less bruised and dirtied than her male trot buddy, she nonetheless shuffled over to Flash's side. “Well, at least they're giving us some peace and quiet for a bit.” She leaned down and squinted at his figure. “How are you holding up?”

“My everything hurts,” Flash grunted.

“You shouldn't have been digging so hard.”

“What choice did I have?” Wheezing, he slowly crawled across the room on his stomach. “If I didn't fetch them things quickly enough, they'd have skewered us with their spears!”

“Well, you did good,” Trixie said. “You must have grabbed them an entire garage sale full of items.”

“Yeah... what exactly did this mound of earth used to be?” Flash finally pulled himself into a sitting position with his flank to a broken down refrigerator. “A horse flea market?”

“Shhhhhh!” Trixie whispered, nervously glancing through the bars behind her back. “Don't say the 'f'-word! I think it triggers them!”

“Then they can bitch about it on Tumblr.” Flash reached and reached down towards his lower half with his forelimbs. “Guh...!” He slumped back, shuddering.

Trixie blinked. “What is it?”

“I felt the urge to rub my toes,” Flash murmured, still trying to catch his breath. “But then I realized I didn't have them anymore.” He stretched his forelimb out as far as it would go and examined his lower half. “I wonder. How would I even...?” The teenager's words trailed off as he bit his lip.

“....?” Trixie cocked her head aside. “What?”

“Nothing,” Flash burped. “Y'know, I should be thanking you.”

“Me? Trixie?”

“It was your... erm...” He gestured at her unicorn brow. “...horniness that helped me find all the stuff buried away. If we didn't fetch such a quick bounty, we'd probably still be in those sweaty tunnels—doing god knows what.”

“Mmmm...” Trixie touched her horn—seemingly using the manual touch to turn the glow off. “I wish it didn't take such a toll on your feathers, though.”

“Yeah, well...” Flash bore a bittersweet smirk, glancing at the wings in question. “I wasn't planning on using them for much else anytime soon.”

“A pity.”

“A pity??”

Trixie was already nodding. “Trixie has enjoyed being able to use real magic for once in this world. I bet you would have enjoyed flying around if you could afford it.”

“I'm... not sure how that's even possible.” Flash looked at his body at length. “But then again, if bumblebees can somehow do it...”

“Speaking of which...” Trixie turned to face the junk pile.

“What?” Flash blinked tiredly in her direction. “Bumblebees—???”

Zaaaaaaaaaap!

Flash winced.

Trixie was firing several rounds of glowy magic into the pile of junk.

“Explode!” She seethed. “Explode!! Explode!!!”

“Hey!” Flash waved at her. “Quit it before you—”

The magic barrage ended, and half-a-dozen freshly-transmogrified teacups rattled to a stop.

“—...blow us all to kingdom come.” Flash blinked.

“Mehhhhhhhhhhh...” Trixie turned around and marched sadly towards the distant corner of the cell. “It's no use.”

“Trixie...”

“Unless we were having a magical prissy princess teaparty...” She turned around three times and plopped down with a sad cathorse face. “...Trixie is useless.”

“Don't say that! Besides...” Flash shrugged. “...what's so bad about princess tea parties?”

“Don't patronize Trixie,” the mare grunted. “You know what I mean.” She glared bitterly at the teacups. “I have the one edge that could possibly get us out of here. And it's a dull one.”

“Look, we're human-human people,” Flash emphasized. “Not horse-human people.” He shook his head. “We can't be expected to master all this crazy Equestrian stuff in a day! It's perfectly normal to not—”

“Trixie is not supposed to be normal!” she hissed at him like a house cat, then slumped back down with her sad chin against her forelimbs. “... … ...Trixie is supposed to be Great and Powerful.”

Flash cleared his throat. “Yeah well...” He brushed his mane back with a sigh. “I don't think talent show acts are gonna get us out of this mess, Trixie.”

“Don't I know it,” she muttered. “For once in my life, I've gotten control of real magic. And it's proven to be nothing but a thorn in my side.”

Flash merely squinted.

She didn't need his prompt to keep talking: “I've been a practicing stage magician all my life.” She looked up. “Did you know that?”

He shook his head.

“I learned it from my father,” she said. “How to pull off tricks. How to charm an audience. How to be deceitful—but without being harmful. And my father was an expert at it—at least with paid attendees. With his family, on the other hand...”

Flash blinked.

Trixie shook her head. “Anyways, that's not the point. The point is, I was enthralled from the very beginning to follow in his footsteps—on stage. Only... let's face it... I was never quite as good at it. Nothing ever came naturally to me. I had to force myself to learn all of the tools and tricks of the craft at once. And... people were not very patient with me. I got jeered a lot. Made fun of. Insulted. So—like a true performer—I learned how to adapt. My act became to patronize the crowd before the opening act even began. That way—when they jeered and hollered at me—they all felt like it was earned. And ultimately they would enjoy the act as a whole... even if the magic tricks didn't wow them.”

Her trot buddy was silent. Listening.

“But... the problem was... I-I put my everything into the act... to the point that I didn't make friends. I couldn't make friends. And when my mother and I settled someplace and home school stopped being a thing, I integrated myself into the world around me by... … ...pretending it was all an act. Which meant I treated everyone as if they were a potential heckler. I beat them to the punch... … ...and only then did I feel comfortable.”

The cell was silent.

Flash cleared his throat. “Is that why you were so surprised that I wasn't getting angry at you for a while there?”

“Trixie doesn't... … ...” She stirred. “...I don't know any other way to be accepted. It works for everyone else at the school, so why not with sad-sack...” She winced. “...why not with you?”

Flash shrugged. “Maybe you haven't been alone with any one person this long.”

“I was alone with Sunset for a while,” Trixie said. “When we had that crisis with Wimbleton Flush-Her-Name and the forget-me-rock.” A long, deflated sigh. “But then Miss Shimmer went back to her friends...” A bitter glare into the shadows. “...and Trixie went back to being Trixie.”

“Maintaining friends is a two-way street.” Flash scratched the back of his neck. “I doubt Sunset really meant to shut you out. She's busy, y'know. Got a lot on her plate—”

“Of course you of all boys would play devil's advocate for her.”

Flash sighed, hanging his head. “... … ...I'm sorry.”

Trixie gulped. “I know you are. I think... sometimes... you're the only person who is.”

He looked up at her.

She was gazing at the floor. “I wish I could say that I was sorry. Not just to others—but to myself.” She sadly shook her head. “It's too late, though. I applied myself to one thing and one thing only. Fake magic—just like the fake love of a father for his daughter.” Her nostrils flared. “Only fitting that I use plastic flowers for my act. Nothing real about it. I don't deserve more.”

“Oh Trix...” Flash shook his head. “Don't say that...”

“Why shouldn't I?” Trixie closed her eyes miserably, resting in the dirt. “I didn't need a magical portal to turn me into a horse. Trixie has been a one-trick pony all her life. It's only fitting that she be buried down here.”

Flash bit his lip.

“But not you...” She reopened her eyes, catching him by surprise. “You never asked to be a trot buddy... to be saddled with Trixie.” Her head shook slowly. “You don't deserve this fate, Flash Sentry. So—for what it's worth—Trixie will keep on fighting. For you.”

The stallion's lips pursed. He felt a strange numbness wash over him, cold and warm all at once. He avoided her gaze.

Trixie's eyes squinted. “... … ...why does Trixie get the feeling this is the first time you've heard anyone promise that?”

He jumped up to his hooves, pacing. Continuing to avoid her gaze. It was a good thing too, for he was finding it hard to see. His vision blurred, and he had to stop to wipe his eyes dry. He knew she was staring at him. He felt it... and it pierced him to the core. He shivered, pondering how to respond... afraid of any and all words that would come out...

...until he noticed something.

Something faint.

Like pale slivers dancing with a distant brilliance.

His eyes traveled the wall until he found the source... the source of a fragmented array of light.

There was a slight break in the wall along the southwest side of the cell—on their side of the bar. Flash trained his ear to it, and he heard the faint sound of birdsong and rushing wind—from an exposed area up above.

“Flash...?” Trixie murmured.

He sniffled, then faced her with a brave smirk. “Maybe neither of us will have to rely on just promises for long...”

Comments

[Scyphi]

Well, if nothing else, maybe Flash can be Trixie's friend after all of this.

I mean, they're already three-fourths there already, so...

[Melody Song]

Aww, I feel so bad for both of them I hope they feel better when they get out.

[FanOfMostEverything]

I don't know any other way to be accepted.

And that may be the most tragic part of this. Trixie views that as acceptance. And she doesn't even really consider any other way to socialize. She's a round shape who's beaten herself through a square hole and now she's just tired of getting squished. The home schooling didn't help.

And then there's Flash, and he has his own problems.

Also, I do have to wonder just how many people have been trying to track these two down.

[Bookeater_otaku]

I think Trixie is harsh on herself about her talent at stage magic. She is getting there, slowly but surely with practice. Perhaps a trusty assistant might help...

And I thought Flash was going to cry at the end.

And look like they found a way out. I don't know if they will be able to dig it out in time but maybe they can hide it behind the pile of trash. Or maybe there is something in the pile to help them dig.

And I thought they were going to use Trixie talent at misdirection and mentalist trick to confuse the diamond dogs for their escape... thought I don't know if Mentalist stuff would work on them since they're so dumb.

Little side note, Sunset must be super panicking right now.

[Raistlin]

10147989

The sad part, Sunset and co. never noticed. Sure, they don't have a Cutie Map, but one think the Friendship Team would be lured to solve these kind of situations. Is not all silly dresses, songs and the occasional villain, right?

[RaritySimper44]