Of Rocks and Showmares

Chapter 4

inkie

Inkie paced on the porch, mumbling with increasing mania. It had been four hours since she got home, and in those four hours she’d imagined Trixie going off to be with another pony, laughing at her behind her back, getting ponynapped by the government, committing murder, and finding new employment. Yeah, she had wanted to talk to Trixie about feeling stuff, but after four hours of worrying herself sick, Inkie wasn’t sure how she felt.

She’d still fall head-over-heels for Trixie, but not without yelling and arguing.

In the distance, Inkie saw the signature baby blue of Trixie’s magic aura. Inkie leaped off the porch and dashed over to her.

“I can’t even believe ya came back. Gotta lotta ner—!” Inkie started.

She froze in her tracks when she saw Trixie.

Deep, black bruises ran along the length of Trixie’s body. Her cheeks were swollen, she was covered in scrapes and her mane and tail were trashed. She kept her head down and avoided eye contact with Inkie, hiding behind her ratty mane.

Inkie choked. Saying she looked shocked was not only an understatement, but a little inaccurate. “Trix—! What? Gawd darn it, what happened to ya?!”

“Nothing, I’m fine...” she answered.

Inkie wasn’t shocked, she was infuriated.

“No, you’re not fine. Look at ya. You’re all beat up.” Inkie’s eyes grew misty. She began shouting. “What happened?! Don’t you lie to me Trix!”

“Inkie—” she said, trying to get her attention.

“Those are hoofmarks!” Inkie pointed to a darker, incriminating bruise. “W-who did this to ya?! Was it them stallions ya went off with?!”

“No, j-just...”

“I’ll whup ‘em! I swear I will! Ain’t no one does this to my Trix...” A few tears dropped as Inkie stamped around at the antagonizing darkness.

Trixie was starting to shake. “P-please, Inkie...”

“Just tell me, Trix, tell me which pony did this to ya and they’ll be sorry real quick! They ain’t gonna walk no more!”

“Inkie!”

Inkie stopped and looked at her friend. Both of them were crying now. Inkie remained quiet aside from her angry panting.

“C-can I j-just have a hug first...?” whimpered Trixie.

Inkie was dumbstruck. She hesitantly walked forward and lightly put her arms around the unicorn. Trixie immediately latched onto the mare, pulling her in to cry into her shoulder. Inkie held her tighter, but was lost for words to comfort her friend with.

“Just umm...” Inkie hesitated, rubbing Trixie across her back. “It’ll be okay, alright? I don’t know who did this to ya, but they’ll walk over my dead body before they do it again. You’re safe now, ya hear?”

“Mmmhmm...”

They sat their in each other’s embrace for a few minutes. Eventually Trixie’s crying died down and Inkie’s stopped completely. They rocked lightly back and forth, letting the soothing motion settle them down. The comfortable silence was just reaching the awkward point in length when Inkie bit her lip.

“Hey, let’s get ya inside.” Inkie tried to pull away, but Trixie just squeezed tighter and shook her head, burying it further in the earth mare’s chest.

“Don’t leave me...” she squeaked almost childishly. “I don’t wanna be alone again. You hafta stay...”

“Ya, ain’t gonna be alone. And as much as I like sittin’ here with ya, we can’t stay out here all night. Gotta go in some time.”

Inkie helped her up and immediately Trixie wrapped her tail into Inkie’s, half-cuddling her as they began to walk. Trixie’s breathing had been ragged and choppy since at least arriving back at the farm, but she cooed as her tailed brushed up against Inkie’s toned thighs. It felt wrong to think sultry thoughts of it given the circumstances, but Inkie couldn’t help it. She tried to deflect her own thoughts.

“So, what happened, Trix? I’m mighty curious to know why it looks like you’ve been to the sulfur pits and back,” she asked.

“Trixie doesn’t want to talk about it...”

“Doesn’t work that way, maybe ya don’t have to tell me, but my Pa’s gonna wanna know. You ain’t in no condition to work.”

Trixie looked away. “Trixie fell down some stairs...”

Inkie scoffed and shook her head. “Really...? Stairs is gonna explain all that?”

Trixie nuzzled Inkie’s neck. “Please... Trixie just wants to forget what happened. Please, don’t make her tell. They were really, really long stairs...”

Inkie rolled her eyes and sighed. “Okay, stairs it is. Worst lie I ever did hear, but I ain’t gonna make you do anything you’re not comfortable with.”

“Thank you...”

As they walked in silence, Trixie began to whine a bit. She pushed playfully into Inkie, straying them from their path.

“You alright?” Inkie asked.

“Trixie would like to apologize...” she said.

“For what?”

“All the nasty things she said to you...”

For a moment, Inkie had forgotten her heartbreaking impasse earlier that day. It seemed so far away all of a sudden. “Oh, yeah. Don’t worry ‘bout ‘em. Water under the bridge.”

More silence. Trixie began whining again.

“But seriously, Trixie feels awful. She thought about you all night...”

“Did ya? That’s mighty thoughtful. Apology accepted.”

Further silence.

“But really, you’re being too nice. Trixie would understand if you didn’t want to talk to her again...”

“Ain’t no such thing as ‘too nice’. And I’m gonna talk to ya all I want.” Inkie smiled at her. “I just like ya too much.”

Trixie stopped, releasing Inkie’s tail. Inkie turned around, puzzled. She furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes.

“Why aren’t you mad at me?” Trixie said with a calm, but accusatory tone.

Inkie blinked. “Why’d I be mad at ya? Do ya want me to be mad at ya?”

“Er—no, but I told you to ‘get lost’, doesn’t that make you mad?”

She scratched the back of her neck. “Yeah, it did for awhile, but ya said sorry. Nothin’ more to it.”

“I broke your heart though!”

That she did. Trixie had unabashedly torn her heart right out at the worst possible time. Maybe she should be more angry about that, but she didn’t it feel it all. She could pretend to be angry, but without genuinely being angry, she’d be yelling for no reason. Trixie was back and she didn't seem at all annoyed or hateful towards Inkie.

“Look, Trix, I really don’t care ‘bout that right now. We got feelin’s and maybe we’ll talk ‘bout em later, but right now, you’re hurt.”

Trixie’s wiped a few tears away..

“I’m gonna take ya to bed, get ya cleaned up and fix ya something to eat. If ya didn’t notice, ya fell down a flight of stairs ‘bout a mile long. Really, I’m not about to start blamin’ ya for dumb stuff, not when you’re all beat up.”

Trixie didn’t move, sinking down to her rump instead, pouting.

Inkie rolled her eyes. “Fine, if it makes ya feel any better, I was mighty sad when ya told me to scram. ‘fact, I cried like a little filly all the way home.”

Satisfied, Trixie scratched at the dirt. “Trixie is a terrible pony...”

Inkie rolled her eyes. “No, you’re not. You’re a sweet, loving mare, kay?”

“You’re just saying that!”

Inkie let out an exasperated sigh. “Oh good mother of Earth... Trixie, I really, really don’t care about what you said. I’m over it. What I’m not over is you bein’ a pain right now. Ya got this weird guilt trip goin’ and it’s tickin’ me off.”

“See? Trixie is a terrible pony who doesn’t deserve friends— WAH!”

Inkie ignored her, walked over and hoisted Trixie up onto her back. She could tell that she was just being ridiculous. Inkie let herself smile finally. Whatever happened to Trixie didn’t change a single thing about her. She was still the self-obsessed, childish little city mare she met a month ago.

“Yup, don’t care, I’m takin’ ya to bed. Seems like them stairs clocked ya on the head real good. You’re talkin’ crazier than a mad cow, Trix.” Inkie shook her head with a grin.

She flailed wildly. “Put Trixie down this instant, you brute! She’s trying to apologize!”

Inkie talked over her, overpowering the Trixie’s feeble voice. “Ya’ll should hear yourself right now! One crazy thing after another! Don’t ya worry your cute, little horn off, I’ll nurse ya back to health, lickity split!”

Inkie enter the room balancing an apple pie on her head and a serving tray with hot cocoa along her back. Trixie laid in her bed, fresh bandages covering her. They had managed to slip by Clyde and sneak her up into her room unnoticed. There, Inkie dressed her wounds and got her comfortable.

Inkie bumped the pie on her head up, tossing it behind her. She stuck out her rear leg and caught it. She hopped over and put it on the unicorn’s bed. She grabbed the serving tray by her mouth and set it down Trixie’s nightstand. Trixie looked down at the pie and then up at Inkie skeptically.

“Go ahead and eat, Trix. I already ate.”

Trixie took a piece and chewed, savouring the flavour.

“Thank you, Inkie. You’re a really good friend.”

“No problem.”

Trixie reached over for the warm mug of cocoa and swirled it around pensively in its cup. “You’re a really good friend even when Trixie is being a little filly...”

“Pfft. That’s half the reason why I like ya so much.” Inkie smiled. “I gotta say, I thought I had ya figured out. First, I thought you were some prissy city mare.” Inkie idly flattened out a section of the bed as Trixie listened. She kept on pressing a single stubborn crease. “When I saw you all beat to a pulp, I got mighty scared. Figured something bad musta happened, real bad. Sort of thought you’d be scarred for life, bein’ so tender and all.”

“Yeah...” Trixie agreed.

“I was wrong though. I probably would be torn to shreds goin’ through whatever you went through. You might cry a lot, but deep down, you’re tough as nails.”

“Inkie...”

“That don’t mean I don’t have behind to kick though. You ain’t foolin’ me with no stairs. Somepony messed with ya, and mark my words; I will find them and I will make them pray to Celestia herself for what they did.” Inkie felt her blood racing again. “But, despite what ya’ve been through, you’re not lettin’ it get to you. You’re in good spirits, you’re happy, ya... keep lookin at me weird...” Inkie’s smile grew.

She took a deep breath and looked into Trixie’s deep eyes as she took an opportunely timed drink of hot cocoa, slurping loudly.

Sluuuurrrp.

Inkie stopped mid sentence, but Trixie looked unphased. She still had the mug up to her muzzle, her eyes remained locked on the mare. She listened and watched intently.

“Go on, Trixie want’s to know how much you adore her.”

Inkie composed herself. “Yeah ok. Good spirits, strong wille—” she continued.

Sluuuurrrp.

Inkie words fell right out of her mouth. She sighed sharply and narrowed her eyes.

“Yes, go on...” Trixie nodded, her expression was enthusiastic.

Inkie cleared her throat. “Erhm, you’re weird and sometimes get on my ne—”

Sluuuurrrp.

Inkie sat there in silence again as the obnoxious noise rang through the air.

“No, get to the part about how beautiful Trixie is.” She bobbed head, encouraging Inkie to continue.

“Ya look like a cross between a cow and a mo—”

Sluuuurrrp.

Inkie winced for a moment before continuing. “Moose with a—”

Sluuuurrrp.

A thick silence hung as Inkie took a deep breath. She glared at Trixie’s big, innocent eyes.

“...”

Sluuuurrrp.

“How much hot cocoa is in there?!” Inkie snapped, trying to look into the cup, but Trixie just held it closer to her muzzle. They stared each other down.

“...”

“...”

Sluuuurrrp.

“I give up!” Inkie declared, throwing her hooves up in the air.

Trixie started giggling girlishly, her face beaming. Her melodic laughter soaked the air through with warmth.

“Oh, now we’re laughin again?”

Trixie snorted in an adorable way. “Of course we are, Trixie is the funniest”

Inkie cracked a huge smile. Seeing her friend laugh so lightly after what must have been a terrible night was heartwarming to say the least.  “Is she now?”

“Yup!”

“Dang it, Trix, I was tryin’ to say something nice, but ya made me lose my train of thought,”

“You were surprised by how normal Trixie is... and then you started saying nice things about her.” Trixie put her cup down on the table. “To be honest, I’m also surprised by how normal Trixie is right now...”

Trixie fidgeted her hooves.

“Any other night, I’d still be crying, still trying to forget what happened, but I’m not. I don’t know why, but when I’m with you... I’m really happy...” Trixie blushed. She brought her hoof to her mouth and blushed even brighter after realizing what she said. “Oh my goodness, that sounded funny, didn’t it?!” she exclaimed.

Both of them were quiet, unsure of how to follow up Trixie’s suddenly tender words. They flitted eyes with each other in an uncomfortable, but desiring way. Eventually, they both held still on the other’s and refused to break contact. Their hearts grew heavy for the other.

Trixie could see Inkie struggling to break their bated breath.

“Inkie, say something...”

“Cows,” she blurted.

“No, I don’t wanna joke right now. I just said something really weird.”

“Yeah, I saw that...”

Trixie bit her lip. “Wh-what did you think of it?”

“It... It made me kinda happy.”

Both their hearts took off soaring. Their faces were crimson red now. Trixie smiled to herself as she thought of something clever.

“Inkie, do you mind if I’m your cow?”

“M-my cow? Wh-what?”

“Yeah, cause you always talk about how into cows you are. So, I thought—”

Inkie blinked twice.

“Oh my gosh, stop being so clueless!“

Inkie barely caught on. “Oh. Oh! Right! Yeah! I guess that’s ok!” She blinked. “Should I kiss you now? C-cause we’re marefriends, right?”

Trixie just buried her face in her pillow and squealed. At least Inkie had her mind in the right place.

“Why are you so awkward Inkie Pie?”

Frightened by her outburst, Inkie backed up instinctively. “I-i don’t know! Cause!”

Trixie plopped the pillow back to her lap, her blush still permanently burned into her face. She noticed the shy mare backing towards the door. “No, dear, come here...” She beckoned her over with one hoof, facehoofing with the other.

Inkie stared innocently at the unicorn, still unsure. Trixie tried one last clever line.

“Inkie, you are the definition of a hot mess, let Trixie clean you up.” Trixie winked and Inkie was clueless. Trixie face scrunched up in. “Come here you silly mare!”

Inkie obediently and gingerly stepped back forward. Trixie, annoyed, grabbed the mare by the arm and briskly pulled her on top of her. Immediately, both of them giggled bashfully as they came close. Wrapping her arm around Inkie’s neck, Trixie made sure the met exactly how they needed to. As they did, their breath exhilarated into each other.

“Stairs?” said Clyde with a deadpan look.

He wasn’t believing her. Inkie knew he wouldn’t, but Trixie had insisted. She was impressed by just how well she was pulling the lie off. Had there not been hoof shaped marks, Inkie might have actually fallen for it. With some makeup and magic, those bruises became more regular looking. Still, it was a lot of damage for just one fall.

“That’s right,” replied Trixie. “She had the horrible misfortune of falling down the hotel’s stairs from the top floor. Twelve floors, and I crashed into two ponies.”

He shook his head. “Miss Lulamoon, I’m not one to judge, you know that. You also don’t have to tell me anything, but as my employee, you’re a liability now.”

Inkie chewed her bottom lip at the word “liability”. Good things never followed for employees branded as such.

“Two things,” he continued. “ If you’re too hurt to work we might need to send you on your way. I won’t give you back breaking work, but this month is really important and we need your production to meet demand. You understand?”

“I appreciate your generosity, but I don’t expect better treatment. I’ll work as I have been,” she replied.

“Good to hear. Secondly are you gonna be fallin’ down any more stairs in the foreseeable future? We can’t go making a habit of this. If you make yourself unable to work, I don’t need ya here.”

She shot a glance at Inkie. “No, I don’t think this will happen. And if it does, I understand that my employment will be at risk.”

He nodded. His eyes said that he didn’t buy any of this lip service, but they all knew he couldn’t just call her a liar.

“I’ll leave you to it then. You’re to cover the west field today,” he said. “See you out there.”

He took his hat off the hanger and left out the front door. Inkie and Trixie exchanged looks.

“Told ya he wouldn’t believe it,” said Inkie.

“It was Trixie’s only option.”

Inkie didn’t buy that. Maybe no one else cared, but she did.

“Ya know, I’m here for you,” said Inkie. “Some day ya need to talk about what happened.”

Trixie whined. “I don’t wanna, it’s just dumb stuff that doesn’t matter.”

Inkie looked into her eyes. They kept their gazes for a few seconds before Trixie drew Inkie in for a kiss. They both drew in a deep breath as they met. They continued to lock lips, wrapping more hooves around each other. The broke their touch, remade it, and broke it over and over. Trixie grabbed at Inkie’s mane and pulled her head back so she could kiss Inkie’s neck.

The feeling never got old. It could happen at any time, for any reason, and Inkie could find herself enjoying it. She’d considered asking Trixie to wait for her to go to bed and then wake her up with a kiss, just to know what it was like. It was silly, but she’d do it Trixie in return if she asked.

Trixie let Inkie kiss her a little more before they finally broke apart.

“Inkie, you’re getting better. Did you go cheat on the cow with me last night?” asked Trixie, still holding Inkie.

“Trick question. You’re a cow,” she replied. “Oh, that’s a point of me!”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Go work you dirty pony, and maybe sneak off with Trixie at break time?”

Inkie pecked Trixie.

“Okay, but I have something I want to show you.”

“Oh, darling!” exclaimed Trixie with a fake blush.

Inkie blushed for real at her sudden excitement, holding her hoof in front of her face. “And you’re callin’ me dirty?”

“Yes.”

“Whatever. So, can I show ya the thing?”

“Can you show me it right now?”

Inkie blushed harder. “Will ya stop it?!”

“Only when you stop wanting it,” replied Trixie, her eyes so devilishly innocent.

“Why you bein’ so hard right now? It’s a simple yes or no.”

“Because you like it when I’m hard.”

Inkie lost all composure, her face full scarlet by now. “I think we should probably get to work,” she said. She released Trixie and left out the front door.

Inkie was finishing up breaking down a large boulder, she felt a series of seismic vibrations course the ground. When her father was young, he’d learned to send small, unobtrusive shockwaves through the ground with a stamp of his hoof. Over time he developed them to have different feels to them to communicate different messages to those who knew their meaning. Once mastered he taught his family and close friends the system, eventually making it into a regional custom. Every rock farmer in southern Equestria knew of Clyde and his system.

The actual translations were fairly primitive, but they got the message across they needed to.

Inkie felt the vibrations through her sensitive hooves. Once she knew what it said, her heart dropped and she took off running.

Problem. West field. Need help.