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“A rock farm?”

Trixie didn’t even know such an occupation existed.

“Yes, it’s the only lead I have for you right now given your job history.”

Trixie considered walking out and giving up. Nopony would book a show with The Great and Powerful Trixie anymore. She had become butt of everypony’s joke since Ponyville. Out of money and out of options, she half-heartedly made her way down to the unemployment offices.

Only a certain sort of ironic self-pity drove her to accept the job. A sad smirk came over her face. She had definitely hit rock bottom.

“Trixie will be a rock farmer then.”

*

“This is Sue,” the stallion introduced, “Blinkie and Inkie. They are my family and you will treat them with respect. You’ll be staying in our guest room.”

Trixie just nodded understandingly. The mother and lighter grey one watched her coarsely, their eyes unwelcoming. The one called Inkie was more of an uncaring stoic. Fair but, watching for the mistake she’d inevitably make.

“Breakfast is at five, lunch is at noon and supper is at six. We take breaks at...”

Clyde Pie started to list off various times that Trixie barely heard. Now that she was actually here, seeing fields full of rocks, she felt a solace come over her. She was no longer great nor powerful, she was Trixie the rock farmer. It stung, but also brought her a comfort knowing she couldn’t humiliate herself any further.

*

Trixie arrived at her first breakfast as per the usual hat and cape. Her coat had been groomed and her mane and tail were neatly kept. The culture shock of the rural life with the uncertainty of her life’s current direction had made last night very long. The Pies had given her an inkwell, quill and some parchment, encouraging her to write to her friends. Clyde told her that it would be good to keep in touch with the ponies she cared about because holidays on a rock farm were few and far.

She only stained those empty letters with silent tears.

However when she woke up, she decided that she wouldn’t let anything change who she was. She got up early to do her mane and tail. She donned her cape and hat, feeling rather silly, but after throwing a few dramatic poses in the mirror, she caught herself smiling.

Now her new employer just shaking his head as she entered the dining room, his daughter Blinkie snickering at her.

“What in the hay are you wearing...?” Clyde asked bewildered.

Trixie looked down at her trademark regalia. “Why these are Trixie’s affections. She always wears them...”

“Not when you’re working you won’t,” he said flatly.

Trixie mouth was left agape. She stretched her cape out,  if he would change his mind if he could see just a little more. They continued to look at her like an outcast. She let her hat fall in front of her face to shield her hurt eyes.

*

“So Trixie just needs to roll them around?” She kicked a rock over as if to demonstrate its simplicity. “Like this?”

Inkie was growing annoyed.

“I’ll tell you what Trixie, you best stop talking in the third person,” Inkie wouldn’t have any of it, “It isn’t that easy, you need to follow the rotation.”

“So how is it that you make money off this dreary task?” Trixie asked, as if they viewed a mutual futility.

Inkie narrowed her eyes.

“I’d suggest that you change your tone. Last thing we need is some hotshot city slicker comin’ ‘round poppin’ her mouth off at us. Us Pies can be real swell to work with or real nasty,” she snarled.

Despite being slightly shorter, Inkie had a hefty presence. She had worked hard labour all her life and it showed through her physique and character. Trixie on the other hoof, had for the most part never done any real manual labour in her entire life and Inkie knew that. That friction was starting to grind between them.

“Excuse Trixie. Trixie was just wondering how Trixie was supposed to be paid. Trixie didn’t know that Trixie wasn’t allowed to know the farm’s inner working,” Trixie taunted, making sure to refer to herself as much as possible.

Inkie had, had enough. Her voice was terse and her temper was starting to peek through.

“Ok Trix, you think you’re somethin’ special?” she fumed, “You think you’re hot stuff? Come on, how bout you mine this here boulder,” she pointed to a boulder about twice her own size, “Just break it apart so we can get anything valuable out of it.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow at the mare’s simple task, letting her confident smile speak for itself. Trixie charged her horn and fire off a spell at the rock, aiming to disintegrate it cleanly. As the smoke and dust cleared, they both watched it in anticipation, desperately searching for opposite outcomes. She had no such luck, not a scratch on it. Inkie just watched her with a look of satisfaction peeling across her face.

“Stupid rock... stupid farm...” she muttered under her breath.

Wanting to shove that look in Inkie’s face, Trixie redoubled her efforts firing off spell after spell with increasing ferocity. The magic seemed to just wash off the stone, none of them coming close to damaging it. Her barrage left Trixie panted as she took a moment to rest. She hung her head as Inkie walked up beside her.

“Well, well, well Trixie. Is this big stupid rock giving you a hard time?” she mocked, “Ever considered going up and just kicking it?”

Inkie stomped the ground, inexplicably bouncing the rock up into the air. She lifted her back hoof and after waiting for it to fall back down, she kicked it into a falling pile of coarse dust. The rock had shattered into countless grains of sand that flowed over Inkie’s still outstretched hoof. The sand uncovered a small gem resting on her outstretched hoof. She kicked it up and over herself, letting it hit Trixie on her stupid head.

Trixie just watched her in a defeated awe.

“Tri-- I am sorry,” she said, ears drooping.

Inkie sighed and reluctantly shot her a grin out of the corner of her mouth. “You’re a mighty big pain in the rear Trix, but I think you’ll turn out alright. We’ll give you work that you can use your magic to do. Just do the job and keep your big mouth shut.” That was the most Inkie could muster saying.

*

Over the next few days, Trixie grew accustomed to the life on a farm. She didn’t do her mane and tail in the morning anymore, opting instead for a practical ponytail to keep her hair out of her face. She still wore her cape and hat when she was alone in her room. They kept her warm and comforted whenever she was feeling down. Whenever they were wrapped around her she’d think of her mother and the last thing she ever said to her.

The Pies had given her jobs to mostly move small things in large quantity. Trixie had rarely ever used levitation to move so many individual objects, but being forced to helped her improve this newly crucial talent.

She remembered Inkie’s words and kept to herself unless pressed over something work related. She’d go to Inkie with her questions and she’d reply with short, minimalist answers, often just pointing or gesturing. The less they talked, the less likely it would be that they’d end up arguing and yelling. Other than that, no one talked to her and she didn’t talk to anyone else.

They were working out in the fields one day and a recent streak of fortune had put the family in a good mood. They didn’t tell her what exactly happened, but it made Inkie want to talk to her against her expectations.

Trixie was busy lifting a few dozen small rocks into Inkie’s cart.

“You know Trix, if you ever wanna just talk, it ain’t gonna bother nopony...”

“I thought you wanted me to keep my big mouth shut,” Trixie bit back.

“Yeah I do, but that don’t mean you can’t just talk, just don’t be a loudmouth.”

Trixie’s brow furrowed with agitation. “Maybe I don’t want to talk.”

“What’s your problem? I’m tryin’ to be friendly here.”

“Why? I called your farm stupid and I kept talking in third person!”

Inkie really wanted to just explode on her, but nothing good would have come from it besides making her cry again. It had already happened twice this since she got here and Inkie learned her lesson. Despite being a completely arrogant pain, Trixie was a sensitive pony.

Inkie let out a deep, aggravated ‘I’m only going to give you one more chance, so don’t blow it’, sigh.

“And you know what? You stopped talking like that and I haven’t heard a single complaint since,” Inkie admitted

Trixie just continued to throw rocks in the cart in spite of the earth pony.

“It seems like a good amount of improvement and I want to tell you that you’re doing a good job.”

Trixie’s face softened and she looked skeptically into the pony’s eyes who just looked avoided her gaze.

“Yeah?”

“I’m not sayin’ let’s be friends, but if we’re gonna be spending eight hours day in the field workin’ our tails off, it’d be nice to have some sort of friendly work environment.”

Trixie knew it would be better to just let go of the animosity between her and Inkie. In reality, Inkie hadn’t really done anything wrong to her, so she deserved a chance. Also, it would nice to have a friend. The fields were lonely and even worse when it felt like every pony hated her.

A seismic vibration coursed the ground, letting them know that is was time for one of their breaks. Inkie threw off the yoke and and grinned.

“Well there’s the bell. Hey instead of going back to your room, maybe you could spend the break with me and we can pretend like we don’t hate each other,” Inkie suggested.

“O-ok...”

*

Over the next few months, Trixie watched two things grow. Her pocketbook and what she considered her first real friendship in years. They were slow to start, but eventually they worked up a consistent friendly banter between them. In the fields and on their breaks they joked and told stories. It made the days easier and the hours go by faster. Sometimes they goofed off a bit and found themselves laughing hysterically at some of their rock-themed hijinks.

Trixie found herself being following Inkie around on their days off, playing tag-along for a lack of something better to do. More often than not, Trixie would take extra shifts if only to work with Inkie.

Inkie was deceptively prying. For a quiet pony, she sure talked a lot after Trixie got her to open up a bit. Once the floodgates were open, there was no stopping her endless questions. She asked Trixie all sorts of things about the city, her shows and her family. Trixie shared each and every one of them, much to the amusement of her friend.

“She was really great...”Trixie reminisced, staring into the void.

“Sounds like it.”

“The last thing she told me was that one day I’d be great and powerful and then handed me that cape and hat you saw me wear.”

“Yeah I remember them. Shoot... And you wanted to wear em out into the fields. I’d be too scared ta even take em out of the box...” she laughed weakly,  “I mean they were hers... Doesn’t get much deeper than that...”

They shared a meaningful silence. Inkie gave Trixie a smile, a real smile.

“And I thought you were just some stuck up pamfy unicorn coming ‘round here to make a quick bit,” Inkie looked out into the sunset thoughtfully, “ Been spendin’ too much time around rocks, I think it might be getting to me. Can’t read ponies as well as I used to.”

Trixie just giggled.

“Hey, what’re you laughing at?”

“You’re getting that look on your face again. The big ole’ starry eyes and all. Trixie can tell something’s on your mind.” Trixie had also picked their midwestern dialect a bit.

Inkie glanced over at her and smirked. “Only because you’re here.”

Before Trixie had too much time to think about that Inkie continued talking.

“Yeah something is on my mind.” she continued, “You gonna keep your promise?”

“Huh?”

“Your ma’s promise. She told you that you were gonna be great and powerful one day. Doesn’t sound like a hope, it sounds like an expectation to me. You gotta be now, for your ma.”

Trixie chewed her lip.

“I suppose you’re right.”

*

Trixie always hated days like this. There was just an anxiousness in the air that she’d never be able to shake until it was over. Breakfast was a lot quieter than usual and the fields, even quieter. Leaving something behind was never easy. Especially something that had found a way into her heart.

She didn’t want to go, but Inkie convinced her to. She told her that she needed to go out and become The Great and Powerful Trixie again. That she needed to be herself and even though she had become an able-bodied rock farmer, she knew it wasn’t her place or calling.

Still it didn’t make it any easier. Today she took every bit of work she could and worked twice as hard, savouring each rock like it was part of an old foalhood collection. In a way she felt like this was part of her foalhood. She had grown fond to the family and the work they did. They opened their hearts to her and even though the bonds between them were unspoken, they were unbreakable.  

In return, Trixie brought some colour back to their life. Colour they thought had long since past.

She’d thrown each of them a birthday party, despite their half-hearted reluctance. They insisted that they don’t celebrate, but Trixie threw them anyways and everypony had a blast. It was clear that Inkie’s party in particular was a bit grander, but she didn’t spare any of them the slightest amount of respect.

All too quickly the day was over. Trixie had moved the last rock she’d move in a long time. A certain somberness fell over her as she it rolled perfectly into place. Her time with the Pies was coming to a close and that moment was approaching fast. The last time she’d see the farm and Inkie in a long time.

Supper was just as quiet as breakfast. Nopony wanted to see Trixie go. They all just sat there quietly eating, their eyes emptily on their plates. Clyde looked up Trixie.

His voice was strong but soft-spoken. “How was your last day Trix?”

“It was fine sir,” Trixie replied with a weak smile.

The rest of the table looked to Clyde, waiting for him to say what was all on their minds.

“Well Trix, before you go, I just wanna take the time to say thank you for all your hard work. You’ve been a real swell worker. Inkie tells me you plan to go on back to the city. I won’t pry, but I pray you find success in whatever you do.”

Trixie did her best to remain and composed and fight the big smile surfacing across her face.

“Thank you sir.”

“We’re all gonna miss you and everything you did for us. I think there’s not a single pony at this table who didn’t have a bad day flipped upside down by something you did for them. Also I think I speak for everyone when I say you are always welcome back. You’ve become like family to us.”

Trixie’s sensitivity got the best of her. Seeing all of them smiling warming at her in light of Clyde’s words lit her up. Unfortunately, this time she didn’t have her hat to shield her bittersweet eyes from making it a tender moment.

*

Inkie was the last one to say her goodbyes. Each one had gotten her a little going away present. Sue had knitted her a blanket to which Trixie only giggled as when unfolded it. It had all four of their faces artistically sewn into four blocks so that she’d “Never forget them, even while she sleeps.” Sue always had a quirky sense of humor, something that Trixie would miss.

Blinkie had made her ten different flavour pies, selling out “We’ll miss you.”

Upon seeing Clyde’s gift, Trixie could only shake her head in disbelief.

“Oh no no no no... You didn’t...!”

He wheeled out a big looming mass from the shed, covered in a tarp with a big bow on it. He tore off the cover, revealing a new caravan, just like her old one. He smiled at it proudly. He had spent a few long nights in the barn building it from scratch just off of the scant descriptions of it he caught wind of. Trixie walked around it and inspected it, speechless. It almost identical to her old one.

“I.. I don’t even know what to say...”

“You don’t hafta say anything Trix, I’m just glad you like it.”

He then gave her a hug she’d never forget. Clyde was never a sensitive pony, but something about the firmness, the comfort and perfect length of his hug spoke his mind to her. He was sad she was leaving and would need to see her at least one more time in his life.

After everyone else had finished, all eyes turned to Inkie who just shifted uncomfortably in place.

Clyde read his daughter carefully. “Well we’ll miss you Trix. Come on everypony, let’s give em a moment,” he said herding the other two back. “When you’re done Inkie, just meet me in the south, gotta lot of work to do.”

Left alone, the two mares almost felt more uncomfortable. Neither of them knew what to say. They had grown so close that saying goodbye just felt wrong.

“So I guess this is it, huh?” Inkie started.

“I’ll come back to visit as soon as I have a chance.”

Inkie just couldn’t find the words she wanted. The fear of not saying anything overtook her though. The last thing she wanted was for this goodbye to be a short, unmemorable one.

Inkie hesitated before blurting out. “Hey look I wantcha to have this.” She said, shoving a poorly wrapped box at her. “I know it ain’t no carriage or blanket, but it’s all I could come up with. I hope you like it,” she said nervously.

Trixie opened the box to find a beautifully crafted silver anklet. It glimmered with almost a chromatic polish. It was comprised of identical rectangular links, with a small diamond in the center of each one. It wrapped around her hoof, fitting perfectly.

On top of being a born rock smasher, Inkie was also an amateur jeweler.

“Inkie, I... This is beautiful...”

“I uh...” Inkie blushed, “Spent a long time on it...”

Trixie embraced her and whispered in her ear. “Thank you... I’ll treasure it...”

Inkie probably never looked more unsure and uncomfortable in her whole life as Trixie hugged her. She wasn’t the a touchy-feely pony and even though she actually liked it, she coughed nervously to signal Trixie away.

Trixie giggled and smiled warmly as she saw Inkie’s grey complexion turn pink. “Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to fluster you.”

“Oh it’s fine...”

They shared another silence as their eyes flitted each other. They never had trouble finding something to talk about, but here at the end, neither of them wanted to say the thing on both of their minds.

The both spoke at the same time, interrupting each other.

“Hey--”

“Look I--”

More silence and nervous eyes. Inkie broke it, blurting out again.

“Hey Trix, I know this is probably the worst time, but have you ever wondered ‘what if’?” she said quickly. “Like what if that anket meant something more?” Her tone was desperate.

“More?”

Words were not Inkie’s strong point right now. What Inkie couldn’t say with her words, she said with her heart.

*

”When you’re big and famous, promise you’ll come back?”

“Trixie promises.”

“Don’t you sell yourself short either. Only when you’re a superstar are you allowed to come back.” Next Chapter: Bad Timing Estimated time remaining: 38 Minutes