Gusty and Ember

by Tobyc

Chapter 1: Manehattan

Chapter 1: Manehattan

Trixie stepped off the stage, having just finished packing up after a reasonably successful performance – not a huge audience, but not one willing or able to heckle her out of the building, as had been the case for a long time after the Ursa Minor incident. She had had to sell her cart and start renting out venues under a new stage name, the Amazing B.G. Lulamoon, but her act was finally close to being afloat again.

She walked into the manager’s office. Publican was telekinetically sorting the takings. After he’d finished, he pulled out a bag and dropped her share in it. “The room you were asking about earlier is going to eat up a lot of this. But I think I can make you a deal.”

“Name it,” Trixie replied.

“Would you be willing to help out behind the bar until we close up tonight? The mare I had rostered on was in some kind of accident this morning, and she only got in contact with me half an hour ago.”

Trixie nodded. “Very well.” She wasn’t exactly happy about it, but it would ensure that the performance had earned a profit, and it wouldn’t be the worst job she’d had recently.

Publican returned the bag to his desk, then stood up and led Trixie to the barroom. “Do you plan on making another booking here? Because I can assure you some nights are better for this kind of act than others, especially if you give me more than a few hours for advertising.”

Trixie shook her head. “Thank you, but I will be moving on in the morning.” It was too much of a risk, especially after what happened in Neighagra a few weeks back – if anypony in tonight’s audience made the connection between B.G. Lulamoon and the Great and Powerful Trixie at this point, word of mouth would likely prevent her from making a profit in this neighbourhood again. Granted, that was a worst-case scenario – somepony might make the connection and recognise that she’d made an effort to avoid the attitude that had alienated past audiences, leading to more positive word of mouth. But for now, she felt staying on the move was the best choice.

There were only a few customers left at the bar, and all of them were close enough to the max drink limit that Trixie’s supervisor, an Earth Pony stallion named Salty, told her that he expected to be throwing them out soon. Two customers overheard this comment and quickly finished their drinks.

Since Trixie didn’t have an RSA, Salty put her to work cleaning glasses in the backroom. This kept her occupied for about ten minutes, and as she walked back into the bar, she saw an purple Earth pony mare with an orange mane walk in the door. Their eyes met, and the mare smiled. “Miss Beatrix G. Lulamoon, I presume.”

Trixie’s eyes widened – she hadn't used either of her given names in the last two months, ever since she’d left Ponyville. Not to mention that nopony had called her Beatrix in years. Thankfully, Salty didn’t seem to make the connection, but since he could tell it had meaning to her, he told her to take a break once this customer was served.

The mare sat down at the corner of the bar and Trixie walked over. “Can we get you anything?”

“Just an orange juice tonight,” she replied, in an accent that Trixie had begun to recognise as Brumbilandian. "One of those 500ml bottles, in a dimple mug if you have one."

Trixie nodded and walked over to the fridge while Salty found the requested mug from the backroom. She got out the bottle and brought it over to the bar, where Salty put the mug down in front of her. She poured out as much as she could and handed the bottle and the mug to the mare, who handed her a few bits, along with a decent tip. Once she saw that Salty was making a point of working down the other end of the bar, she asked the customer, "Do you intend to tell me how you know my name?”

The mare took a sip, put down the mug and smiled. “A Lulamoon family get-together on Hearth’s Warming Eve, about five or six years ago.”

Trixie blinked. “I wasn’t aware of any Earth ponies in my immediate family.”

The mare shook her head. “I’m not a Lulamoon, but my college roommate was and she invited me along, since I wasn't going home that winter. It was the year you did the Hearth’s Warming pageant as Princess Platinum, and stayed in character a bit longer than necessary.” She smirked at the memory, though she seemed to regret doing so a moment later.

Trixie remained perplexed. “I remember the play, but nothing else about your story is ringing a bell. Did I really leave such an impression on you?”

The mare muttered, “You have no idea.” She turned to open her saddlebag. Reaching inside, she pulled out a thick hardcover book and dumped it on the bar. Trixie picked it up and stared at it: Daring Do and the Amber of the Smooze. Written by Ember Roundup, who, judging by the several-years-old photograph on the back cover, was sitting right in front of her.

Trixie looked back up. “I’ve never read this series. What point are you…” She paused as the mare – Ember – pulled out a second book and placed it next to the first. Trixie stared at the title: Daring Do and the Curse of the Golden Key. Written by Ember Roundup and… Gusty Lulamoon?

Trixie dropped the first book and went silent, as various memories came flooding back, starting with an obituary she’d come across not long after the Ursa incident. After a minute or so she looked back at Ember, who said, “As you may have figured out, I owe a lot to your cousin, and to you, which is why I’ve spent the last year trying to track you down.”

“You… owe me?” Trixie had never felt more lost in a conversation than she did right now.

Ember paused before taking the second book back. “She never told you. Nopony ever told you…” She put the second book back in her bag and pulled out a card. “If I have your stops for the last week right, you’ve been traveling down the East Coast, and you’ll hit Fillydelphia in a few days.” She dropped the card on top of the book. “Here’s my address. I have much to discuss with you, and if you read the book you’ll know why.”

“Last orders, please!” called Salty from the other end of the bar. Ember quickly finished her orange juice and left without another word. The remaining customers followed within the next few minutes, and Salty asked Trixie to clean and put away the remaining glassware while he locked up.

Half an hour later, Trixie entered her room for the night and shut the door. She then put down her saddlebag on the bed and began searching through it. She soon found what she was looking for: the obituary she’d cut out of an old newspaper a few months before her return to Ponyville.

She ran her eyes over the short biography of her cousin. It provided a few details about her bestselling books, her minor literary awards, her career as an equinologist, and the ongoing investigation into the cause of her death, but had little to say about her personal life, save for a brief mention of her regular writing partners: Ember was one, the other was J. Thunderlane Hurricane, Jr, a name Trixie knew well, from a couple of her favourite horror short stories.

Trixie returned the clipping to her bag and turned to the book Ember had given her. She’d never been one for this kind of adventure book – though not so much the films, thanks mainly to John Barrowmane - but apparently Ember wanted her to find something in this one. She looked over at the clock bolted to the desk and decided she’d give it an hour before going to bed. She sat down, switched on the desk lantern and started reading.

Half an hour later, Trixie had found it.

Comments

[Cheshire]

Good work man. I like the idea, well written... I think I'll follow this just to see where it goes.

[SpacePaladin]

Awesome!

BTW, Peteman here. This is going to be fun.

[The Abyss]

This seems interesting! Have a thumbs up! I'll have to continue reading this later; I have to go to class now.

[Willow the Pegasus]

John Barrowmane?
You get an instant like for that, even if I hadn't planned on it already.