The Showmare and the Stallion

by RK_Striker_JK_5

Chapter One

Trixie Lulamoon took a short sip of her bourbon, letting it slide down her throat with an all-too familiar burning sensation. She was sitting at a table in Berry Punch's establishment for... something. She knew where she was, and what she was doing, but could not properly put a name to the activity. “I'm trying, I really am.” She floated the shot glass back down to the table, letting it drop the last half-inch to land with a thunk. “I know, I know,” she continued, waving a hoof in the air. “I was pretty bad when I first got to Ponyville. The Night Court can do that to a pony.” She let out a sigh and glanced away, finding sudden interest in a speck of dust floating and twisting in the air. “But I'm getting better. I am, really.”

Her compatriot, a rather large and well-muscled earth pony stallion, glanced over, shifting a stalk of straw from one side of his mouth to the other. “Eyup,” Big Macintosh drawled out.

A snort came from Trixie. “How eloquent, as usual.” She floated a pitcher of water over to Big Mac's side and refilled his cup of cider. “I ran into Rainbow Dash earlier. Well, less 'ran' and more 'dodged to the side as she barreled in for a crash landing'.” She rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “Honestly, how she ever got weather manager position... Anyway, I also had a meeting with Ivory Scroll.” She paused and her entire body shook. The bottle of bourbon floated to her glass, tipped over and poured another shot, which Trixie greedily downed.

Big Mac slowly chewed on a begonia sandwich. “That bad?”

There was a pause before Trixie shrugged. “Not that bad. But not that good, either.” She shrugged and leaned in. “Honestly, she tries. I guess after Corona and parapsrites and everything else that's happened in so short a time in such a sleepy town, it can get to almost anypony.”

Big Mac set his sandwich down. “Ivory Scroll means well, and she does good at her job. Ah guess tha past few months just kinda pusher her outta her comfort zone.” He chuckled slightly. “Not every day that apprentice of Princess Luna comes ta' town and it's the most 'normal' thing ta happen.”

Trixie barked a laugh. “I guess so.” She waved a hoof at him. “So last time we were here, you told me about tracking some gang leader operating near Cloudsdale? Lightning Drift or something?”

“Lightning Dust,” Big Mac corrected, smiling slightly. “Caramel and I tracked her ta the Wonderbolts' training camp. It took a bit o' doing, but we managed to get her tied down and brought to tha proper authorities. She was cussing up one hay of a storm, though. I left out some of the more... colorful language when I told Applebloom about it. No need fer her to learn such things before her time.” He let out a sigh and shook his head, his rather unkempt mane swishing back and forth. “'Course, that time's comin' up a might too soon fer me and Applejack. Yup.”

Trixie let out a sigh. “Ditzy thinks the same way about Dinky. It seems like only yesterday she was tiny and big-eyed, or so I've been told.” She shook her head and took a sip of bourbon. “Oh, that's the stuff.” She looked to Big Mac and waved the bottle at him. “You sure you don't want any?”

“Sure enough, Miss Trixie. One of us has to be sober enough ta help the other one home.”

The unicorn growled slightly. “And how many times have I told you not to call me 'Miss Trixie', Big Mac?” She sat back, crossed her forelegs in front of her chest and thrust her nose into the air. “It is not 'Miss Trixie'!”

Big Mac took another bite of his sandwich. “Would yah prefer 'Miss Lulamoon', instead?”

Trixie glanced at him out of the corner of her eye before her head drooped almost to the table. “All right, all right.” She glanced up at him, a smile forming on her lips. “You know, you might not say much. But what you do say, counts.”

“Yup.”

Trixie shook her head. “And here I am, babbling like Pinkie Pie on a sugar rush. I don't know how you put up with me, sometimes.”

Big Mac looked over at her. “Trixie, I don't know how yah put up with me, sometimes. I think this might be tha most I've said during one of our little dates.”

Trixie, right in the middle of swallowing, coughed and sputtered. Her blue cheeks turned purple and tears streamed from her eyes. Big Mac pushed a glass of water across the table, hopped off his chair and trotted over. “Drink,” he said, taking the cup and helping Trixie take a sip from it.

After a few moments, Trixie's coughing subsided and the color of her cheeks turned back to blue. “Thanks,” she said. “You have saved the life of the Great and Powerful Trixie.” She leaned in close to him, locking eyes. “What should be the Noble and Strong Big Macintosh's reward be?

Big Mac's stalk moved around before he stepped back. He glanced at her down the length of his muzzle. “Well, lemme finish mah dinner first and we'll talk.”

Trixie let out a sigh as he walked back to his chair and sat back down. “Oh, all right. We can finish dinner first. But then...” She let her voice trail off and batted her eyes in Big Mac's direction.

Big Mac stared ahead at her, slowly moving the stalk around in his mouth. Slowly, his cheeks turned a bright crimson, overtaking even his coat. He hunkered down and began eating once more, his eyes never leaving the plate.

---

“... And so I said to her... what'd I say? Oh, yeah! I said to go buck yourself, Corona! Then I passed out, but I showed her what for when I woke up. Say, what does 'what for' mean, anyway?”

Big Mac shook his head. “Don't know,” he said to Trixie as she clung to his back. He walked along the deserted streets of Ponyville, carrying her back to the Residency. He kept his gait slow, keeping any sudden movements to a minimum. After a few minutes, they arrived at Trixie's home in Ponyville. He shrugged his shoulders, aiding the slightly-inebriated Trixie off of his back and onto the ground. “Here we go.”

Trixie landed on all four hooves, her motions not quite steady. She shook her head and let out a breath. “And now, the Great and powerful Trixie... will get some sleep.” She blinked before turning her head to look right at the stallion. “Big Mac?”

“Yeah, Miss Trixie?”

“I... love you.”

Big Mac blinked. He let a smile play across his lips before turning and giving Trixie a kiss. “Ah love you too, Trixie.”

Comments

[Drake2010]

Well...

The end was quite unexpected. Not bad for a crack pairing in the Lunaverse.

[Georg]

Wow, she's really drunk. Good thing she won't remember that in the morning.

[wolfstorm56]

Adorable.

[Heart of Blades]

I really liked this actually. Shame it's so short. Anyway, great job!

[Emeral Bookwise]

Hmm... Big Mac seems a might chatty for a fic that actually mentions how mild spoken he's suposed to be in the description, and arguably Trixie isn't chatty enough given that same description states her to be his inverse; just an observation.

[Joy Stick]

rjgnheruignhwrtn
d'AAWWWW!

[Mr Pones]

Wait.... WHY is this included in the "Lunaverse", might I ask?
I think I already know the answer

[CLAVDIVS CAESAR]

I could honestly see it. Too bad Mac and Ditzy are my OTP.

[Blackbelt]

....You know, I could actually see this working out well for the two of them....

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

2124532 lol, thanks. Opposites attract, right? ;)

2124592 Hmm, nah. She remembers it. they do this every week. She's not into 'Lulamoon' territory, after all.

2124894 Thanks!

2124960 I was pushing the deadline a bit. Hmm, I wonder if I should continue this...

2124976 Did you... I mean really? Really?

2125097 I take it that's good, then.

2125120 We ran a Hearts and Hooves contest with a random number generator and this is what I got.

2125138 Then we must duel! Banana cream pie or blueberry pies, my good sir?

2126068 Thanks. Hmm... maybe I should float this... Nah. no one would go for it.

[Joy Stick]

2126127
Amazing.

[Mr Pones]

2126127 That's a decent enough reason I guess.

[Emeral Bookwise]

2126127
What?

I'm not allowed to point out when an author's own description declares Big Mac to be "a stallion of few to none", and yet in the fic the character speaks in whole and even extended sentences?

It's not a critique of the story itself, that's fine for what it is, but there is a definite incongruity between the description and the actually body of work.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

2126416 Thanks.

2127073 lol, thanks.

2127558 ... 'Few to none' does not mean mute, or not talking at all. There has to be some back and forth between the two, more than 'yup' or 'nope'. Otherwise it'd be dull and rather difficult to write. And well... you didn't write any praise or anything that I did good for what was a short, silly dare challenge. So... yeah. I'm sorry, but that rather ticked me off a bit.

[Emeral Bookwise]

2129320
Sorry, I wasn't aware you needed my approval to validate the existence of this fic. The fact I had no specific praise for the fic, doesn't mean I did not enjoy it; it just means there was nothing that stood out to me as exceptionally inspired, but as you said this whole affair was just a "silly dare challenge", so that really shouldn't be surprising for ANY of the H&H fics.

Anyway, yes, you are 100% correct that writing a character with limited dialog would indeed be difficult, but when you describe the fic as a contrast between "a mare of many words and a stallion of few to none", I do not feel it is unfair for me to expect to see that borne out in the fic itself. With a different description, I'd likely not have complained at all, but you set up an expectation then failed to deliver on it. Not saying that makes this a bad fic, just that it means the summery and the actual story don't really match up.

[Zap Apple Smash]

I liked this. It was a short, sweet fic capturing a single moment between the 'couple'. Frankly this is the way I see how a 'relationship' would work between them. It would start off as two ponies coming together after work to talk about their (admittedly with one pony talking more than the other ) but then it growing more.

I can honestly say that I'd love to see more of these two together.

On a side, I liked the reference of Big Mac and Caramel taking care of business Though chasing a Pegasus like Lightning Dust all the way to the wonderbolts acadamy and still taking her down, I believe the proper term for that is "Like a BOSS!"

[Sereg]

Well, that was pretty cute.

[Walabio]

¡Lightning Dust! Hasbro would never name a pony such a silly name. ;-)

Seriously, how can Big MacIntosh and Caramel chase a pegasus.

In the CelestiaVerse, Lightning Dust has the potential to be a great WonderBolt, but she is too reckless. After she will emotionally mature, she should reapply to the WonderBolts. At this time, she is too much of a danger to herself and others to be a WonderBolt.

[SFaccountant]

It was good. I feel like I would have enjoyed it more if I read up on this "Lunaverse", and I definitely would have enjoyed it more if it took place at a pivotal point in Trixie and Mac's relationship, rather than being a random snapshot in the middle of it. For a one-shot, though, it was plenty.
I do think they make an awesome couple, if only because Trixie could appreciate somepony who spends all his time listening rather than speaking and has a near-infinite wellspring of stoic patience. Cute story.

[Emperor]

Well, that was short and cute. Nice to see even in the Lunaverse Trixie acts exactly as one would expect of her Great and Powerful Personality when combined with actually being nervous when courting, especially when it comes to Best (Male) Pony such as Big Mac.