Extending the Olive Branch

by Clickety-Whinny

To the Wild

The midday air moved thorough the trees in a slight breeze, its dance dragging the odd fallen leaf into the cottage's kitchen. Olive and Trixie sat across from each other at the table and talked over their lunch as he dragged a pencil on paper.

"Oh-ho-ho, you were looking when Trixie's great and powerful new friend teleported her out of the manticore's mouth," Trixie punctuated her sentence by drawing a circle in the air with a hoof, then punching through its middle, "and into the box, right? 'twas the best part of the night!"

Olive thought back to that night with a slight tremor. "I still can't believe you actually talked me into training that manticore for you. I am glad you and Starlight have become good friends, though."

Trixie slouched on her chair with forehooves behind her head. "Believe me, I'm glad too. I'm almost sad that the show made me enough for me to stand on my own hooves now..."

"At least you'll still come back to Ponyville from time to time. And she won't be the only one waiting for you!"

"Yeah, yeah... actually, there's something I want to tell you, regarding that."

Olive looked up from the letter he was writing, head held at an angle. "Hmm?"

"I'd like to pay you back for letting me live with you for a while, now that I can support myself..."

Olive raised a hoof to decline, but Trixie silenced him with a flourish of hooves. "...By granting you and all of your animals free admission into any of my shows!"

Olive held his outstretched hoof and open mouth for five full seconds. "...That's, um, very nice of you, Trixie. Please remind me of that in the off-chance the Cutie Map sends me to someplace you're performing in."

"Remind me to remind you, then." Trixie paused, crossed her hooves and held her chin on her right forehoof. "Wait, the Cutie-what now?"

"Oh, the Cutie Map. It's this really big round table in Twilight's castle that sometimes makes our cutie marks glow and vibrate, and-" Olive took care to listen to his own voice, and for the first time since the fundraiser he felt something other than euphoria from it. "...I think Twilight might be able to explain it a little better than me, actually."

Trixie looked to her left, and exhaled hard. "If so, then I'm sure it's not that important." Her gaze shifted back to what remained of her flower salad, then to the half-written letter Olive was working on. "Hey, what's that there?"

"Oh, I'm writing a letter to a friend of mine. He's been off on vacation for the last couple of weeks, and he's the only friend I have who hasn't met Olive. I'm going to go send this letter after lunch; would you like to come with me?"

"Ehhhh..." Trixie bent herself over her chair's backrest and listened to her back creak. "Why not. I should probably get out and walk a bit more..."

"Wonderful." Olive bit down on a forkful of leaves before turning back to the letter. He paused midway through a sentence, and swallowed. "Hey, Trixie, what's the name of the treatment we're both getting, again?"

"You mean hormone-replacement therapy? Wait, why are you..."

"Oh, Yes that's the one!" Trixie began twisting herself by leaning on her forearms as she spun her head as far as it'd go with her eyes narrowed to strips, and Olive pulled it towards him as soon as he realized she was trying to read the letter from where she stood. "Don't worry, I'm not going to mention you by name in it if you don't want me to."

Trixie sat back down with a sigh. "Thank you." She took a bottle of olive oil and draped her salad with its contents, then grasped a hoofful of green with her magic and stuffed her mouth with it. "Hh, ohe moh' thinh. Gulp: Are you going to mention the whole week you spent behind a curtain while Angel taught me how to clean up after a whole ecosystem?"

"Erm, well, I already have, actually. In fact, the only part left is transcribing it in pen and putting it in a proper envelope." Olive punctuated his last statement by clicking a ballpoint pen against the table, then twirling it with his wings' fingers against a brand new sheet he produced from the same breast pocket.

Trixie watched the dexterous display with a smidge of horror. "Don't you pegasi ever think the wing finger thing's a little, like, gross? It's like they shouldn't bend that way..."

Olive looked at her while making a conscious, and incredibly challenging effort to keep his expression neutral. "No, not really. They're useful for when my hooves just don't cut it." He put the pen on the paper, and wrote out the letter's date and first paragraph. "See? This pen is specifically made to be held with wings. It's really comfortable."

Trixie stared with wide eyes at the trail of ink. "...And really fast too. I think you wrote all that in less than ten seconds!"

"Well, I got a lot of practice ever since Twilight came up with the shared diary. But it's easier than it looks like; I'd suggest you try it, but..."

Trixie tapped her horn with a hoof. "Eh, I'm not too broken up about it. Besides, I bet your wings can't do this!" As her horn lit up with its light magenta glow, her half-eaten plate of salad floated up to her face, and she promptly dove into it.

With his left wing fanned out to obstruct the grisly sight of his guest's meal and his right busy writing, he used his left front hoof to hold the paper steady while his right brought small bites of leafy greens to his mouth with a fork.

"BURRRP! Have I ever told you how amazing your cooking is? I kind of lost myself in there just now."

Olive wiped away a tiny piece of lettuce that landed about a hair away from the letter with a napkin. "...Yes, I can see how much you enjoyed it. And just at the same time I finished writing my letter, too!"

"Ha, yeah, you- you what?" Trixie looked at the letter, blinked, looked again, then rubbed her eyes before looking a third time. "How did you even- did I take that long to finish?"

"I wish you'd taken your time with it... but that's in the past now. Would you like to come with me to deliver the letter now?"

"Oh, sure." She lit up her horn, and enveloped the plates and silverware with her mana. "Just got to wash these so that Angel won't bite me again..."

Olive shot up a hoof to stop her. "Thank you, but that won't be necessary." He put his wings around his muzzle in the shape of a cone and spoke up. "Harry, would you kindly do the dishes?"

Trixie's glowing horn and puzzled expression simultaneously fizzled out as a two-and-a-half meters tall brown bear hobbled around the corner and stood at one end of the table. It scanned the table thoroughly, noted the half-circle of green detritus around Trixie's plate, and wiped a bit of leftover alfalfa off her cheek with a deep growl.

"Harry says that he hopes you're enjoying your stay, Trixie."

Trixie shook herself back to action and leapt over the table with a "t-thank youuu!" before clambering towards the front door.

"Hey, wait for me, Trixie!" Olive took the letter in one wing and the envelope and stamp for it in another. He turned to the bear, "Don't worry. She just needs to get to know you better!" before running after her.

He whipped around the hallway, went down the staircase two steps at a time and galloped out of the door to find a panting Trixie leaning against the mailbox. "Listen... you can't... just sic a bear... on ponies without warning..."

"I didn't 'sic' Harry on you, I asked him to clean up after you. And running away on him like that was terribly rude!"

Trixie pointed her nose up at him, and adjusted her hat. "Okay, okay, sure, maybe Trixie doesn't really have to fear your furry friends. But can you really blame her for being scared of the mountain of claws and teeth that just came around the corner and walked up to her out of nowhere?"

Olive paused, and took a hoof to his chin. "Hmmm... you've had the chance to get to know him better before, so yes, I think I can. N-not that I would, though!" he added after her gaze bore through him.

Trixie let out a huff. "Eh, whatever. Exercise after lunch is good for digestion, anyway." She stood up, and nodded at the envelope olive was currently stuffing the letter into. "Do you need some help with that, or can you manage on the way to the post office?"

Olive looked up from his labor just in time to miss the letter shooting up into the air and land on his head. "Oh, don't worry. I'm sure the mailponies can help if I don't get it by then. And I also hope they've got glue for this stamp..."

Trixie grasped the letter with her magic, and floated it in front of his eyes. "I hope so too. After you!"

Olive sheepishly took the letter in his teeth, and took about three steps down his front lawn before a blinding light erupted before him.

Where there had been nothing an instant ago now stood a beast ripped right out of legend. Its body mismatched, with prey and predator parts stitched together haphazardly to form the vague outline of the creature that currently stood at least three times taller than Olive. It, for whatever reason, had squeezed itself into a mailpony uniform that miraculously managed to wrap around its upper chest unharmed, and it brandished a pen in one claw and a clipboard in the other.

Trixie began shuffling away on her back as soon as she recovered from the flash. "What the- Olive, what in the name of Equestria is Discord doing on your front lawn?!"

Discord exhaled a plum of black smoke at her comment, causing it to crash and start a small fire ontop a nearby stone. "Excuse me, but is this the Shy residency? I've got a delivery for her."

Olive forced his smile to stay on after hearing his whole sentence, and took advantage of the motion of storing the letter in a breast pocket to exhale. "It's so nice to see you, Discord! I thought your vacation would last a few more weeks..?"

"Now, I'm afraid you've mistook me for some other handsome devil, miss." He ripped out a name badge from his uniform and showed it to Olive. Sure enough, it read "Ditzy Doo", and the gray mare photographed on its side looked absolutely nothing like Discord. "See? Let me give you a closer look."

With a shake, the badge unfurled into a postcard from Las Pegasus, depicting five separate Discords playing ten total slot machines. The Discord nearest to where the 'photo''s camera was paused, then looked up, met eyes with Olive, and began to wave vigorously. On the left of the postcard was a small written note by Discord, reading 'Wish you were here, Fluttershy! You'd really hate this place!'

Olive took the postcard in a hoof, and sighed. "Listen, thank you, but since you're here, there's also a letter I've written for you here, so..."

'Ditzy' shook his head and pulled his mailpony cap over his eyes. "Sorry, Miss, but if you want to send a letter, you're going to have to take it to the post office. I just handle deliveries. Also, I wouldn't want to catch the cold you have- you're really hoarse." He wiggled his nose, and wafted away just as he'd appeared.

Olive brought a wing to the part of muzzle resting between his eyes and squeezed. "You can be so frustrating sometimes..."

Trixie took deep breaths until her heart stopped ringing in her ears, and slowly raised to her hooves. "S-so, uh, could you tell me, uh, what just happened, exactly?"

"...Alright. That was the friend I was telling you about at lunch, despite what he insists. I thought he'd only get back until after you left, but apparently I was wrong. And he's usually not this grating."

"I got that part. but why is your friend a god of chaos?! And how come I'm only learning about this now?"

"Oh, sorry, I must have forgotten to mention it. As for how we became friends, it all began when Celestia hauled his stone prison to Ponyville on a flying chariot after she decided to have him redeemed."

Trixie's eyebrows slowly sunk until it was hard to tell whether her eyes were open. "...Alright, okay. I can totally see why the 'Chaos God Who Nearly Destroyed Equestria' thing could have slipped your mind."

"Well, thank you for being so understanding, Trixie. Maybe I'll be able to introduce you two properly some other day..."

Olive's contemplative ruffling of the grass was interrupted by the shriek of a steam whistle to his back and left. He turned back, and froze as a black locomotive slowly rose in from the surface of a river, the jaw-like protrusion in its front pointed towards the sky. Once floating on the very surface of the water, it slammed down on the grass with a distressingly metallic cry of protest, and roared to a point not a hair's length away from his behind. Olive peered behind the engine's path, and was extremely relived to find that Discord's newest nonsense left no disturbed dirt or even agitated water behind. In fact, no creature present seemed to pay the machine any mind except for himself and a currently bluish-white Trixie.

"I-I don't- what did it- why is-" Trixie desperately stammered at the second inexplicable entity she'd seen that day.

As if to answer her questions, A door on the side of the locomotive was thrown out of its hinges by two striped pink-and-yellow curtain hooks springing towards her and Olive. The hooks pulled them in so fast it'd be hard to say whether they hadn't simply been teleported to somewhere behind the conductor.

Olive rose to his hooves. "I guess he's glad to be back..."

A rhythmic thumping filled the room as the train was set in motion. It hurled forwards, launching the two ponies inside backwards.

A little after she stopped bouncing around the cabin, Trixie balanced on her middle back and curled herself into a half circle with great effort. "HRRNG- nope, I'm awake. Blast it all! What does this nonsense have to do with TRIXIE?!"

A scraping sound followed by clanging stone alerted both of them to Discord's presence, now dressed in conductor apparel. "Why, I'd figure if for any reason you'd happen to find your selves in here, it's 'cause a friend got a ticket for a friend, capeesh?"

Trixie rolled onto her hooves before jabbing one of them at him. "Well then tell that friend that we don't want to be here! And also tell him to ask before kidnapping two ponies who just had lunch off their porch, for Luna's sake!"

"Now, now, Missy. if you'd find yourself so bothered by your experience in the Entropy Express that you'd resort to language of such low caliber..." Discord cracked his knuckles as the back wall of the locomotive was torn away like a sheet of tinfoil, "...then I insist that you've the right to leave it at any moment."

Trixie backed down, and calmly walked to and sat down on a sofa as the horrible cry of tearing steel reverberated through the cabin. Olive, on his part, trotted up to Discord and firmly poked him on the side. "Stop that right this instant, Discord. Trixie is my friend, and I'm going to be very upset with you if you keep bothering her. It's her last day in ponyville, and I want this day to be nice!"

Discord pretended to not hear him as the rapidly returning back wall narrowly stopped a frozen Trixie from obtaning a deep understanding of the concept of relative velocity. "Sorry, madam,"- Madam? really? "but I don't happen to know or to be the extraordinary gentleman you've described just now, and I'd be delighted to assure you of that if you'd just look at my name here." And sure enough, his claw pointed to the words "D. Hooves" embroidered on the chest of his striped jumpsuit.

"Okay, alright. Mister Hooves, would you please stop this train so that me and my friend can get off?"

"Why, I see no problem with that..." Discord reached for a bright red lever sticking out of the cabin floor, "... especially since I'm 'spposed to stop at this station for just that very purpose."

The train's wheels shrieked as it came to a stop just outside the Ponyville post office. Discord pulled on the red lever again, and a small section of wall on the side of the train fell fowards as a makeshift ramp.

Olive, eyeing the ramp with suspicion, prodded it with a hoof a couple times before tentatively taking a few steps on it. Satisfied, he got about halfway down the ramp before a purple-and-blue smear of color almost ran him over.

"MMMUAH! MMMMUAH! Oh, dear stable ground, how I took you for granted! I shall never again complain about being tired of walking as long as it's on you!" She then wiped her tongue down with a hoof. "I don't think I'll make out with you again, though."

Olive rushed to her side, and crouched down to her eye level. "Oh, dear. I'm so sorry that you're having to deal with all of this, Trixie. Is there anything I could possibly do to make up for it?"

Trixie, startled, scrambled to her hooves and began a grand gesture of contemplation. "Hmmm... Trixie is not sure she could ever possibly forgive you for putting her in this life-threating situation..."

"Oh, alright. I guess that's fair..." Olive cowered further into the dirt just before a hoof tapped against his shoulder.

He looked up, and saw Trixie sporting a devilish grin. "Just kidding! In terms of travel by motorized vehicle, this has been one of my best trips. Do you have any idea why?"

Olive stood up, and put a hoof to his chin. "Not really, no. Do you happen to be a big fan of trains?"

"Nope! It's because I went with a friend this time around!" Trixie did a pirouette, and wound up facing the main entrance to the Ponyville post office. "And having you keep the Chaos God at bay is just a bonus!"

Olive did an exaggerated huff of annoyance before following her through the door of the Post Office. "Well, I'd just like to let you know that he's not usually this mean, or at least not since we became friends. I think something might be bothering him."

Trixie's first few steps on the red carpet of the post office were dragged against it, leaving brown stains against red. "Oh, does he only give death threats without almost following up on them on his good days?"

Olive sidestepped the dirt on the floor and galloped until he was at her side. "No, usually he uses his powers for pranks and japes. Like finding a whoopee cushion in your seat at the table after you sit down. Except there's no cushion, because he gave the chair its own digestive system and a full plate of cabbage instead."

Trixie held her face in a mixture of smugness and fresh horror for a few moments. "I- why would he even DO that?!"

"Well, so that it'd make a fart noise when you sat on it. Except with an actual fart, unlike a normal whoopee cushion."

"Haha. Wow. That's. Uhm..." Trixie silently thanked Luna as they neared a blue box labeled 'Collection.' "...the perfect way for me to change the subject!"

Olive read a line on the side of the box, then looked up at a wall clock intently. Noticing this, Trixie turned her attention to the same clock. "Oh, not one of those! Why doesn't the Post Office have a digital clock, of all places?"

"Maybe they're more expensive. The lowest point in that circle is where six is, right?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. Do those go all the way up to 24 or do they also differentiate between AM and PM?"

A gray pegasus popped up beside the duo, clad in mailmare attire. "The time's one minute to two in the afternoon, friends!"

"Oh, wonderful!" Olive fished the letter from a chest pocket. "That means we arrived just before the letters get taken off to be sent!"

The mailmare pointed only one of her eyes downwards, towards the box's spot. "About that, sir..." She gestured to the suddenly empty space between them. "How'd they get that out from under us...?"

Trixie hung her head and threw an arm around Olive's shoulders. "Listen, the... friend my friend here's trying to deliver a letter to has a... knack for doing things you'd think were impossible. I gave up trying to question it a few minutes ago!"

"Oh, well then. Either way, don't beat yourself up for being late. I barely clocked in today 'cause I couldn't find my uniform!"

Olive brought a hoof to his chin. "...Well, I'm glad to see you managed to find it. By the way, would you mind helping me pack this letter properly?" He showed her the letter, envelope and stamp he'd stored on his pocket.

One of the mare's eyes studied the envelope for ten seconds. "I don't think that envelope is big enough, mister. Let me get you a bigger one!" She dashed towards a booth, displacing enough air to knock the letter out of his wing. As soon as he and Trixie managed to grab it out of the air, the mailpony returned with a sheepish look.

"Oh, dear, sorry about that. Here, let me get that for you..." She folded the letter into the envelope, and glued it shut with the same stick of glue she used to affix the stamp. "I hope that helps. Have a nice day!"

"Oh, thank you!" Olive took the envelope and stuffed it into his breast pocket. "You too!"

As they walked away, Trixie whispered into his ear, "Shouldn't she have said 'nice afternoon' instead? I'm starting to fear I'm the sanest pony here..."

"I started being afraid of that not long after meeting you. Why are you only getting scared now?"

"Oh, do hush!" Trixie swung the doors of the Ponyville Post Office open with a huff. "At least The Great and Powerful Trixie didn't decide to trot halfway across town to go mail a letter to a 'friend' who already arriv-"

---

Trixie and Olive looked around bewildered at the environment before them. The doors of the Post Office had led directly to the middle of the living room of Olive's cottage, and promptly disapeared before either of them noticed. Instead, the thing they saw after pivoting on their heels was Discord enjoying a cup of Earl Grey at a table with only one other seat.

"Back so soon?" Discord crooned. He slithered down his seat and up to the pegasus, putting himself between him and Trixie. "Delightful! Oh, Fluttershy, how I thought of you in my travels! We must catch up, now and not a minute later!"

Olive sucked in a sharp breath through his nose, and blew it through his mouth. "Then I just so happen to have something relevant for you here." He produced the envelope again, and showed it to Discord. "I was going to mail you this letter, but since you're already here..."

Discord snagged the envelope, ripped it open with a claw, and had a pair of reading glasses appear on his face with a swipe. "Alright! By the way, I simply adore what you did with your mane. It's very butch-y!"

"...Thank you?" But Discord was already engrossed in the letter. After a long, tense silence he simply muttered "I see..." and disappeared in a flash of light- one far less painful to look at than usual.

"...Discord?" Olive called out after waiting about a minute. "Where are you?"

Trixie plopped down on the unused chair and reached for the teapot. "Whelp, turns out the chaos god who nearly destroyed Equestria that one time is also a huge jerk. Who knew?"

"Trixie, that's not a nice thing to say." He took the seat opposite to her, shuddering at the surprising cold of the felt. Apparently Discord took his lower half being 'cold-blooded' rather literally. "Maybe he's just, um, looking up some of the terminology I used in that letter!"

Trixie stopped herself from pouring a cup of tea to look Olive in the eyes. "I understand that you think of him as your friend, but... just because he's near and dear to you doesn't mean he'll take it any better than anypony else." She reached over the table, and put her hooves over his own. "I'm sorry it happened, but the best you can do now is just... let go, and move on."

Olive pulled his hooves from underneath hers in one motion. "TRIXIE! I don't mind you not liking him, but you have to understand that that is just not who he is!"

"I- alright." She looked away, turning to the floating teapot next to her. "Do you want some tea?"

Olive wordlessly pushed his teacup and saucer over to her, but as she began to pour, the top of the teapot swung open followed by a nimble white limb. "Oh, MAN! That jacuzzi was incredi- oh, did I, uhm, interrupt something?"

Olive offered him a deadpan expression. "No, It's okay. I was just going to drink the tea you were presumably swimming in."

"Ah. Well, don't let me keep you!" Angel's bound away from Olive and his gaze was interrupted by the pink glow of Trixie's magic. "Oh, drat... look,, in my defense I didn't know I was submerged in tea! I just thought Discord had made me an herb bath! Honest!"

"An herb bath, you say? See, Trixie, I told you Discord wasn't that bad!"

Trixie closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, held it, then let it go. "Olive Branch, The Great and Powerful Trixie would like you to listen to her. You don't need to pretend-"

Her speech was cut off by yet another teleporting flash of light, now much smaller and centered on the table in front of them. Instead of any draconequuses, only a small brown package appeared, clad with a red bow and a note that read "my bad" in a foal's hoofwriting. The three creatures present scrutinized, shook and only one time, bit down on the package in turns until Olive took the package in his hands and flew up with it.

"I told you, Trixie. Discord wouldn't do something like that! Now I'll go and see what's inside here, if you don't mind..."

"Wait!" Trixie got on her back hooves on top her chair, front hooves up towards the ceiling. "You don't know what's in there! What if it's something dangerous?!"

"Celestia's wings, Trixie, what has gotten into you?! There's no reason to believe Discord would hate me enough to do something like that! Would you please sit down?"

Trixie's face flashed in pain for just a moment before she began lowering herself. However, just as she began to sit her attention turned to her shoulder. A white bundle dragged its teeth against her arm, then motioned upwards with its neck. As Trixie raised her arm once again, Angel climbed up to the top of her hoof and spoke up. "Okay, okay, relax. We're not saying that package is a bomb or whatever. But it could be an industrial scale can of snakes. Wouldn't it be more responsible to have Trixie open it from a small distance? Just so that one doesn't bean you in the face."

Olive considered his words, then let out a long sigh as he floated down to the ground. He set the package down in the middle of the living room, took three steps back and beckoned his friends. "Trixie, Angel suggested that you should use your magic to open this package from a distance just in case that there's a prank inside. Would that make you more comfortable?"

Trixie let Angel off on the table, got down from her chair, and tentatively walked towards the package, magically brandishing the same chair in front of her like a lion tamer. "Yes, yes, it would. Thank you."

She undid the bow after a moment of hesitation and braced herself for an explosion- or at least a snake- that never came. When she looked up, she saw packing peanuts spread around the box, and Olive reading a note taken from inside aloud.

"'Dear Olive Branch: It is very nice to finally meet you. I would like to apologize for my obstructive behavior this evening; I wouldn't have joked around THAT much if I knew how much today meant to you. I hope this gift makes up for how our first meeting went.'"

"'P.S: Apologize to this 'Trixie' mare on my behalf, will you?'"- Olive sneaked a quick glance towards her before continuing -"'You and her seem like good friends. I do hope my antics didn't ruin her day.'"

"'P.P.S: Las Pegasus was AWFUL. Would NOT recommend, specially for you. Spent the whole trip thinking of Ponyville.'" Olive folded the note into a pocket, and grinned with joy and just a hint of pride.

Trixie set the chair back into place with a huff. "Okay, that was... surprisingly nice of him. But what is this 'gift' of his, anyway? It could still be a prank!"

Olive narrowed his eyes at her statement, and so did the rabbit who popped out of the top of his mane. "Either way, could you help me dig through these packing peanuts?"

Trixie rolled her eyes and lumbered over to the box. She lifted clumps of packing peanuts with her magic, each around half the size of her head, until she heard something fall out of one and into the box.

"Oh, oh!" Olive exclaimed. "It's... oh."

Trixie and Angel perched themselves on the edge of the cardboard box, and peered in. And then almost fainted.

Olive fell down on his haunches despondently. "I guess you were right, Trixie..."

Trixie got up from falling on her back to look at him "What? No, Olive, it's- it's not- pfft- it's not a prank! It's not. It's not."

"Well, if not a prank, then what else?" Olive took the object in one hoof, and moved it between his hooves slowly. "Maybe there's a meaning to this I'm missing?"

"Hihih- yes, yes there is! There very much is, but I- PffthahaHA think Angel might be able to explain it to you a little better!" She looked to where he was a moment ago, then to most of his favourite spots in the room. "Where is that little rascal, anyway?"

She got her answer when he floated down to between them, using a pair of her underwear as a paraglider. "Wh-when'd you get your paws on those?!"

Angel simply shot her a devious smirk and offered her underwear to Olive.

"Angel? ...Why are you giving me those...?"

Trixie let out an exaggerated exhale. "We have something to show you, but you'll need to put those on first."

"...What?"

"Just do it! It'll make sense, I swear!"

"O-okay..." Olive went to grab the undies with his teeth, caught himself halfway through, then resorted to grabbing it with his wings as he rolled onto his back. He put the object on the ground, then slid on the garment with some effort, then stood back up on his back hooves. "Okay, you two, I've put on Trixie's underwear. Now what?"

Trixie let out a snort despite herself. "Okay, so this next part might be a little bit odd. Well, odder." She gently took the object in one hand, and turned to look him straight in the eye. "Do you trust me, Olive Branch?"

"Um. Why are you asking me that, Trixie...?"

"Do you trust me! Yes or no!?"

"Eeep! Um, I guess I do?"

"No guessing! The Great and Powerful Trixie needs to have a straight answer here!"

Olive thought back on his recent experiences with the mare currently glaring into his soul. He did. "I-I do. I trust you, Trixie."

She grabbed the front of his boxers with magic. "That's great to know. Now tell me: do you prefer dressing left or right?"

Olive's apprehension had to share space with his confusion. "I... don't understand what you mean by that. Are you asking which wing I'm better at writing with? That'd be my right..."

"Good!" She suddently yanked the waistband towards her, dropped the object into it, and let the band go with a crack.

"YEEOUCH! For pony's sake, Trixie, that hurt! Why'd you do that?!" He went to rub the part of the pelt that just got stung, but his hoof paused went he felt a lump just under it.

Trixie took a step back, giggling. "Sorry, sorry! But do tell: how do you feel?"

Olive stared at the bulge in his boxers, motionless and completely quiet for a few seconds. Then, he got back on his hooves, and made his way to the front door.

Trixie trotted after him. "Olive..? Talk to me! I asked you a question!"

He swung the door open with a hoof, and tilted his head back. "I've never been better."

He leapt out of the cottage and into the sky, and began doing loops around every tree in the vicinity.

Trixie and Angel watched the display from the porch until yet another flash of light left Discord in a coil at their paws and hooves.

"Oh, hey, Discord." Trixie nudged the pile of draconequus with her hoof. "We got your gift."

The pile slowly unraveled until Discord stood in front of them, handkerchief gripped tightly in a claw. "Ooh... I've just been such a horrid friend to him! Tell me, did he at least like it?!"

"I wouldn't say he liked it, no..." Trixie rubbed a hoof to her chin in thought, stepping aside to dodge the falling Discord now slumped against the side of the cottage behind her.

Discord sobbed against the wood until a series of quick jabs against his tail alerted him to Angel. Once he had his attention, the bunny pointed towards Olive's latest loop with both ears and three paws.

"...I'd say he loved it."