//------------------------------// // The Father's Legacy // Story: Luna's Apprentice // by ScientistTrixie //------------------------------// “I’m just saying, if either of you are pregnant, or were soon to become pregnant..” Ara said slowly, idly tapping her hooves together as she glanced between Trixie, and Luna with a happy, but tense smile on her face.  “Mom. Quit.” Trixie said, eyes closed as she rubbed at her forehead tiredly. “We are not pregnant, Luna has been helping me fix things in my life, and she… correctly,” Trixie admitted reluctantly, “thinks that I need to come to terms with how I left. So, before we go any further-”  “It’s okay.” Ara said firmly. “I shouldn’t have tried to lock you away from the world like I did. That didn’t help you, and while it may have helped me at the start, it was… it was selfish.” She cleared her throat uneasily, eyes starting to glisten as she studied Trixie, lingering over every inch of her daughter. “I have missed you so much Tricky, I don’t want to spend however long you will be in town stressing over events in the past, okay?” Beside her, Trixie could feel Luna shift slightly, her wing pressing into her side ever so subtly. Even without a side glance, she could feel the alicorn’s eyes burrowing into her.  “I still need to say some stuff.” Trixie repeated, smiling despite her mother's half hearted eye roll.  “I’m sorry to. I should have understood how much you missed dad, and how much it must have scared you to lose him like we did… but, I was.. I was miserable here. I had no friends, I had no one without my magic, and despite putting hours into my shows, I had no one I could even show my tricks to. But, Luna has helped me learn that just because someone else does something that isn’t fair, or wrong, doesn’t give you an okay to do something wrong back, and I definitely shouldn’t have done it to you.”  Ara hesitated, eyes darting to Luna a few times before she got to her hooves and strode across the room, pulling Trixie into another hug, her hooves holding tightly onto the mare. After a moment, she released her and tugged Luna into her grasp as well, drawing a small yeep from the startled alicorn.  “It’s okay, mom’s always been a hugger.” Trixie deadpanned, speaking through the dark blue and silver mane in her face.  “I can see that.” Luna admitted, at the same time as Ara swatted at Trixie’s side playfully.  “I have years of hugs built up Tricky.” Ara commented, pulling away to look her daughter over from a closer distance.  “You’re skinny.” She commented, tracing a hoof over the last vestiges of the unicorns rib’s that could still be seen through her coat.  “I know. I’m working on it though.” “Are you… Are you eating okay?” “I am now.” Trixie admitted, scratching at the back of her head uneasily. “I got into.. a bit of trouble a year back that has.. well , it made it a lot harder to get around and make bits.” “I know.” Ara admitted, trotting out of the room for a moment, returning a moment later with a few tall glasses of iced tea. “I’ve been saving any clippings of you in the news I could find, and about a year ago.. They kind of stopped. I thought the worst, but I.. I couldn’t really be sure what had happened to you.”  “I made a stupid mistake in a town called Ponyville, and when the news spread, well. It got much harder to put on shows, and before long I was nearly bitless and.. If Luna hadn’t found me when she did, I might not be here today.” Trixie admitted, blushing when she saw the way Luna snapped her eyes to her.  “Trixie..” Ara began, her voice a mix of sadness and disappointment. “You could do much better, if you would just get that anger under control..”  “You would be surprised how hard anger can be to control, especially when it has built up for years.” Luna interjected, calmly sipping from her glass of tea as she politely avoided the stricken glance Ara darted her way. “And please, this is your home Miss Lulamoon. If you ever have a place in the world where you can be frank and speak as you wish to, it’s here.”  Ara seemed to disagree, but she cleared her throat and returned her attention to Trixie. “You can be so smart if you put your mind to it.. Your father had the same issue at times.” She commented dryly, her horn lighting up as a set of saddlebags, a heavy coating of dust atop them,  floated toward the pair from a tall bookcase. “I.. I wanted you to have these, but when you left… I… I didn’t know where to send them.” She finished weakly, gently setting the bag at her daughter's hooves.  Trixie stared at the bag for a moment, her heart thundering in her ears before Luna gently floated the bag into her lap. With shaking hooves, Trixie opened the small saddlebags and peered inside. She gasped at the interior and Luna couldn’t help but peer inside to see what had surprised the mare.  A beautifully tailored red cape sat folded neatly at the bottom of the bag with several decks of cards atop it, still sealed in their factory plastic. A set of knives in a faux leather holster and a small metal cylinder, as well as knobby wand and a patched top hat rounded out the small bag. Trixie stared into the bag, her eyes distant and mind elsewhere.  Luna gently wrapped a wing around the mare, and Trixie jumped as she pulled her into a hug. After a moment of silence, Luna reluctantly cleared her throat. “Are these your.. Your fathers things?” Luna guessed, nodding silently as she noticed the pained look on Ara’s face as well.  “Yea.. Would it be okay if I stepped outside for a minute?” Trixie said, hoof trembling slightly as she stood, cantering from the room without waiting for a response.  Ara sagged in place, putting her hooves over her eyes and sighing. “Stupid… It was stupid of me to give her that bag… Ugh, what is wrong with me?” She spoke to herself, but Luna easily overheard her.  “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to your husband?” Luna said haltingly, staring at the contents of the bag before she turned to focus on Trixie’s mother once more. “I had assumed it was.. Natural causes but.. I am starting to think otherwise.”  “Trixie hasn’t..?” She trailed off, shaking her head uneasily. “No, of course she didn’t.” Ara stood, and trotted across the room, peering at her bookshelf for a moment before plucking a wrinkled and aged newspaper clipping from one of the shelves. Without a word, she levitated it to Luna. “If you go to look for her, head toward the river. Go outside, take a right and follow the ally. You’ll see her. Luna glanced at the mare thankfully before peering at the paper, eyes furrowing as she followed the text.  __________________ Luna pulled the door open moments later, glancing back at Trixie’s mother before stepping out onto the Neigh Orleans streets. She looked around the sparsely populated streets, trotting along the home’s front as she headed toward the very same dock Trixie had pointed out in the chariot hours ago. She mulled over the newspaper clippings, a deep sorrow tugging at her heart as the cerulean mare came into view. She passed a low fence, easily leaping over its uneven painted surface as she neared the dock, hesitating at the slimy and cracked wood below her. With a silent spark of magic, a combination of strengthening charms and feather weight magic washed over her and the dock, preventing her from plummeting through its water-rotted surface.  Luna stared at Trixie for a moment, her heart throbbing painfully for the mare before her. She sat herself on the dock, gazing silently out over the water, watching a few random boats drift back and forth across the river before them. The sun slipped ever lower toward the surface, and before long, Luna would need to step aside for a moment to assist in the changing of the sun and moon, but for now, she was content to perform moral support for her marefriend. Trixie had other plans apparently.  “That used to belong to my father.” She said, her tone flat as she pointed out over the bay. Across the bay sat a large brick theater, Lulamoon Magic Theater visibly in large block letters across its top. The letters were slightly faded upon a closer inspection, and there were a number of lush vines creeping up its surface, but it was still a proud building standing shoulder to shoulder with other parts of the Neigh Orleans sky lines.   “He would perform there once a week, and rent it out to anyone who would perform the rest of the time…” She smiled faintly, eyes seeing into the distant past as Luna turned her attention away from the building. “The Great Magician of Neigh Orleans… That’s what all the headlines would read. That was his title. His… legacy.” A tear ran down her cheek slowly as she spoke.  “What happened?” “He was murdered. Mugged.” She said, jaw set as she tore her eyes away from the distant theater. “Someone robbed him as he was leaving the theater. He didn’t fight back, or wrestle… He didn’t even scream. He pushed me behind him, he handed over all his bits, and they stabbed him…”  “My father was murdered over a hoof full of bits… “ Trixie turned, tears streaking past her angrily sneering muzzle. “Aren’t you going to say you're sorry!” She bit out sarcastically. “Everyone else in Neigh Orleans is so sorry for poor old Trixie… Her father died… It’s so sad-” She trailed off as Luna interrupted her.  “No.” Luna said simply, frowning as Trixie stared at her confusedly.  “No?” “Will it change anything?” Luna asked, cocking her head at the distraught mare. “It won’t. I am sorry. I am very sorry that you had to go through something so traumatic at a young age, but saying so won’t change anything. It won’t make you feel better, and it won’t bring him back.” Luna pulled Trixie into a side hug, laying her forehead against Trixies. “All I can do is be here whenever you need me.” And for the moment, Trixie needed someone’s shoulder to cry into.