Out of Sight...

by Star-Killer89

Chapter 2: Rise of a Show-mare

Written by Star-Killer89, Edited by IMacPoneh

HOOFINGTON BORDERS
9:32 P.M.

The sun had already set in the distance, and soon the moon raised by Princess Luna would be high in the sky as it watched over the night.

Twilight had just finished helping Trixie move her cart a hundred yards away from Hoofington’s last built-up area, because, as the show-mare explained to her, more than once she’d been awoken in the middle of the night by police officers, who forced her to move her house or risk being fined for squatting on somepony else’s property.

“Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?” asked Trixie.

“Sure, why not?” replied Twilight and the mares entered the cart. The inside wasn’t very big, but the cyan unicorn managed to find the space to fit a bed, a nightstand, and a wardrobe with an oval mirror right on the wall next to it. She also had a small kitchen and a table with a pair of poufs on either side.

“So” said Twilight sitting near the table “you were saying that hat was a gift from your father?”.

“Yes, he was a magician too and he was the one who introduced me to the world of magic. Actually, he was an earth pony, so he considered his job as an illusionist in Canterlot the closest thing he could ever get to his dream of performing real magic”.

“He wasn’t really famous, and since my mother was rather… ‘allergic’ to the idea of working, we spent a lot of time struggling to make ends meet, but to me it didn’t seem we were having much trouble. That was, until my mother decided that she wasn’t suited to stunted life anymore.”

“She abandoned the both of us when I was 2, out of the blue. I vaguely remember the night before she left, she tucked me in, as she always did, and before I fell asleep, I asked her if the next day we could stop for ice-cream on the way home from the markets. I remember she smiled at me, said ‘We’ll see, honey’ and kissed me on the brow, before leaving my room”.

“The following morning I found my father on the couch, his face tear-stained, and the letter my mother left behind crumpled beneath his hooves. I don’t think he was expecting it either”.

Trixie filled a kettle with some water and put it on the stove.
“Looking on the bright side, with one less mouth to feed, the little money that my father earned was more than enough for two ponies.
After my mother left he started to spent every single minute of his free time with me. I remember I could spend hours watching him perform the tricks he’d have used during his shows, and how happy he was to show them to me. He used to call me his ‘Little Princess’ because, for him, my magic would have been just as powerful as that of Celestia herself”.

“It was during one of these evenings, when I was almost six, that I discovered that my special talent involved magic… More so, the art of prestidigitation, performing the Chinese Linking Rings trick with a flash of magic from my horn”.

“I can’t even explain how happy he was that my cutie mark involved magic” Trixie said, and started to laugh to herself. “He was probably even more excited than I was. Well, of course we didn’t have enough money to afford a cute-ceañera, but my father wanted to give me a present anyway. He brought me to the store where he used to buy his tricks, telling me he’d buy me anything I wanted. It was at that moment this hat came into my life”.

The water was now boiling, so Trixie transferred it to a teapot, added some tea leaves and brought it to the table with a couple of cups.

“Sadly, even the most beautiful of dreams have to end sooner or later, and I guess mine started to fade when I started to attend Canterlot’s Public Magic School. As time passed by, I started to realize that what my father did wasn’t real magic, and it wasn’t long before I started to look at him with pity and contempt, believing that just because I had a horn I was better than him”.

“Moreover, little by little the money my father earned dwindled away. When I turned 16, I also decided that a life of hardship wasn’t suited to the ‘Great and Powerful Trixie’, as I’d calling myself”.

At this point, Trixie had to stop her story, tears already started to stream down her face. Twilight took a linen handkerchief from her saddlebag, one with her monogram and cutie mark embroidered on it and handed it to the mare. “Thank you” said Trixie, and started to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

“When I decided to leave my house and announced the decision to my father, he didn’t seem upset, on the contrary he wished me good luck and told me he hoped I would gain the fame and fortune that life denied him. Only several years later I found out that my leaving hit him harder than I thought”.

Trixie broke off again, this time to reach for her nightstand, from which she pulled out two letters. She handed one to Twilight and said “He sent me this one 3 years after my departure. At the time I was staying at the house of an acquaintance of mine in Fillydelphia. To this day, I still can’t figure out how he managed to know that I was living there”.

On the letter there were clear signs that it was been tore into pieces, only to be reassembled and kept together with adhesive tape:

‘ Hey sweetie, it's been a while since we’ve seen each other. How are things going? I heard that you’re living in Fillydelphia since last summer and, since I’ll have to spend a couple of days there too to perform a show, I thought we could see each other again.

Maybe we could perform some magic tricks, like we used to do when you were a little filly, how’s that sound?

I am looking forward to hearing from you as soon as possible

Yours
Juggler Lulamoon ’

“When I received that letter, I still had harsh feelings towards him. I blamed him for not allowing me to attend more prestigious magic schools in Canterlot, and I thought he acted that way so that he wouldn’t feel inferior to me. I thought that was why he made me waste all those years practicing stupid foal tricks instead of real magic as well.”

“As an answer, I just ripped the letter and sent it back to him.”

Trixie had to stop herself again to wipe off a new stream of tears from her face.
“A couple of months later, two officers from the Canterlot police squad knocked at the door of my apartment. They said that my father passed away the evening before and that I was invited to his funeral and the reading of his last will and testament the following day in Canterlot”.

“I gained knowledge that, after I left his house, his performances started to fall in quality month after month, to the point where he had to leave the big stage to perform at occasional engagements, like little foals parties and such. Some of his friends also told me that he’d started to drink, and said that it was during one of these engagements that he made his biggest mistake.”

“He showed up drunk and got into a fight with one of the guests, who, of course, pressed charges and demand he pay for damages. He lost almost everything to pay that stallion, and there was a rumour that he had to appeal to some loan sharks to completely extinguish the debts he’d piled up in the aftermath”.

“How did he…” started to ask Twilight.

“The coroner said it was Pancreatic Necrosis, due to Alcoholic Liver Disease” answered Trixie “the only escape he could find to the miserable life I put him through ended up killing him”.

Twilight wanted to comfort Trixie and tell her that it was not her fault, but the cyan unicorn had already resumed her story.

“I attended the funeral, but, for some reason, I wasn’t sad. I mean, I should have been devastated, I should have been near my father’s tomb, crying for the loss of the stallion that raised me, the pony that was with me through thick and thin, by my side for my victories and failures, and the only one who could guide me towards my special talent.”

“Instead, I just stood there during the whole celebration, my mind miles away and my eyes cold. The way I stared at his coffin was like there was a stranger inside, not the one who raised me”.

“I was really surprised, on the other hoof, that my mother had attended the funeral too. She showed up with her new husband, the owner of some sort of company, that she’d somehow managed to ensnare and with whom she’d given birth to a young colt.”

“When our eyes met, we both felt a mutual sense of disgust. I hated her for being the mare that traded her family for a more comfortable life. She hated me for being a useless daughter, born from an unsuccessful stallion that wasn’t able to satisfy her whims”.

“Once the reading of my father’s will started, I could see that my mother’s eyes were shining with greed at the thought that she might inherit something from her former husband.”

Trixie stopped and laughed ironically.
“You can picture what her reaction was when she found out that the only things my father had left to give were the hat and the cloak he bought me when I was young, and that he’d bequeathed it to me”.

“On the road back to Fillydelphia, my feelings towards my father hadn’t changed, even though I thought ‘At least you managed to avoid letting that harpy get her greedy claws on anything that was rightfully yours.’
I remember I was on the train, turning the hat in my hooves, when I saw there was a fabric square sewn on the inside.”

“Once I had unstitched it, I saw that my father had put in some kind of secret pocket, the fragments of the letter I’d sent back, together with this one” she said, giving Twilight the second letter she took from her nightstand.

This second letter, which showed a lot of circular marks, evidence that tears had been splashed on its surface, making some of the words fade, read:

‘ My dearest Trixie.
I want to be honest with you. The purpose of my trip to Fillydelphia was to have a medical examination with a specialized oncologist. I’m afraid I don’t have much time left, but I guess that if you’re reading this letter, than you already know everything.

You see, even though your answer to my previous letter showed me what your feelings towards me have become, I want you to know that my feelings towards you are unchanged. For me you will always be my Little Princess, the daughter who was always amazed, looking on with eyes of wonder as I was showed her some new magic trick. The little filly that fell asleep while listening to the stories of the deeds of Star Swirl the Bearded. You’ll always be the little filly that was suspended from Magic Kindergarten because she punched one of her classmates after being made fun of for not having a mother to raise her. You’ll always be the girl that was crushing on her new teacher at Canterlot Junior School, and the young mare that was so excited when her cutie mark appeared that she started to talk for hours about all the fantastic spells she would perform.

The Trixie that wore her cloak and this hat every day, even while sleeping. The hat that she used to lower on her head, while practising her spells, saying phrases like “When I grow up, I will be as Great and Powerful as my daddy”.

The beautiful mare you became that just left her treasure behind, when she understood how pathetic and insignificant her father really was.

I really hope it will help you to remember those happy moments spent together. My only regret is that I wasn’t able to see you one last time.

For all eternity, your father,
Juggler Lulamoon ’

Twilight couldn’t help but start crying while reading the final words of a stallion who, in spite of all the adversity faced and the pain he had to suffer, had thoughts only for his daughter until the end.

At this point, even Trixie started to heavily cry again “What a good daughter I’ve been, right? I abandoned my father, completely neglecting what he was going through, just because I considered myself superior to him. I pushed him towards his own death, while he never stopped trying to do what was best for me”.

Twilight wanted to stop Trixie and reassure her that she was not to blame for the death of her father, but Trixie continued her story.
“When I returned to Fillydelphia I went through a long period of depression; for almost a year I spent most of the days just lying motionless in my bed, the curtains closed, isolating myself from the world.”

“Since I was becoming a burden, my cotenant was forced to kick me out of the apartment we were sharing, so I ended up on the streets. I guess I have to thank her, though, since that was the time I figured out I had to do something”.

“I started to take all the small jobs I could, until I managed to buy my first cart. After that I decided to use what my father had taught me to become an artist, just like he was.”

“I understood soon that if I wanted to earn the reputation I needed, I couldn’t just stay in one place, so I started to move from town to town, and decided to don the mask of ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’ once more, hoping that it would help me gain the confidence and notoriety I needed.”

“Unfortunately, days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and so, after a year of wandering Equestria, those lies became my reality and the mask just contaminated me, turning me once more into the haughty and arrogant mare I was when I left my father’s home. It turned me into a social outcast and made me act like a jerk to everyone I met… even during and after my visit in Ponyville, a year and a half ago”.

As she spoke, Trixie stopped and bowed her head in shame, not only for the way she treated Twilight and her friends, but for the way she acted in the last years of her life in general.

“Oh Trixie” Twilight began “I’m so sorry. If only I’d known back then…I know how you feel right now”.

“HOW COULD YOU KNOW WHAT I’M GOING THROUGH!” shouted Trixie, tears still streaming down her cheeks “How can you possibly know what it feels like to know that you’re worth less than zero?”
“You think I don’t know? You really think I don’t know what your life is really like Twilight Sparkle? You think I don’t know that you are Celestia’s pupil, or that you and your friends are the new Elements of Harmony, or how you managed to reunite the Princess with her sister Luna, or that you managed to defeat Discord before he could turn all of Equestria into a land ruled by chaos?”
“You think I don’t know that you’re surrounded by renowned friends, like that great Canterlot stylist, the former model personally chosen by Photo Finish or the ‘Best Young Flyer’ of all Equestria?”

Twilight was shocked by that sudden outburst of anger, and couldn’t do anything but assume a guilty expression, while Trixie kept venting her rage and frustration.

“Oh, but I’m sure Little Miss Perfect here knows what I’m going through.”

“She knows what it’s like to sleep on a park bench for three months, not having a fixed address and being forced to move every few weeks for miles, without resting, spending all of your energy and getting nothing in return. I’m sure she knows all about what it’s like to rely on charity just to make ends meet.”
“She knows what it’s like to fast for two or three days, exhausting yourself just to allow the only creature in the world who does not consider you a total failure to feed himself!” she added, pointing her hoof towards her dog Blacky, who, since the start of her outburst, was trembling laying under Trixie’s bed, frightened by all the rage his master was emanating.

“YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I’M GOING THROUGH! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HARD IT IS TO LIVE A DAY AS TRIXIE, LET ALONE YOUR WHOLE LIFE!” she ended, grinding her teeth and heavily breathing. The way Twilight cowered in fear gave even Fluttershy a run for her money

It was at this point that Trixie’s gaze met her own in the mirror near her wardrobe. Catching sight of her reaction, she winced, realizing that she had once again allowed the arrogant side of herself to get the upper hoof.

She turned her back on Twilight, a shameful expression on her face “I’m sorry. Please, leave before I hurt you further”.

Twilight recovered from the shock and approached Trixie, putting her hoof on the show-mare’s shoulder “Trixie, I-“

But Trixie immediately withdrew “Go, I said. Please. I just want to be left alone” and after that walked slowly to her bed, collapsing on it so that she could face the opposing direction to Twilight.

Realizing that she could do nothing more to cheer Trixie up, Twilight gave in and, slowly, headed towards the door.

Before she left, she turned one more time, noticing that Blacky was now crouching by the side of his master, while Trixie slowly pet him.

With a sad expression on her face, Twilight closed the door of Trixie’s cart and took a brief moment to look up to the full moon, which was now occupying the sky.
‘Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, please, give her the strength to regain’, and with this entreaty, she left Trixie and headed for the town.

---

In the distance, behind a pair of trees in a nearby forest, two pair of eyes focused on the lavender unicorn, waiting for her to leave Trixie’s house.

“Damn, I was starting to think she was going to stay the night with her” Came a whisper from the shadows.

“Should we move now?” Asked another voice.

“Patience, my friend. We have to be sure no one is around. Only then can we pay that little unicorn a visit”.

CONTINUES IN CHAPTER 3

Author's Note:

I decided to split the first chapter in half for a couple of reasons.
First of all, keeping all of the chapter around 14-16 pages long was going to be though, while having them of 8-9 pages max turned out to be a lot easier.
Secondly, this will allow new readers to look at the story withouth thinking "Oh God, I need to read a two digit number of pages to keep up with the story? No thanks."
I also added a title to each chapter now...having them only titled "Chapter x" was not really imaginative.