It's a new day and Trixie is out at lunch with the Mane Six and Starlight. As they are eating their sandwiches and drinking their lemonade, Starlight raises the question. "Whatever happened to your family, Trixie?"
"Well," replies Trixie, "you see. I was born into a gypsy tribe of unicorns and pegasi. As you know, gypsy tribes were mocked, scorned, hated. Because of that, as the leader of our gypsy group, my father was often getting thrown again and my mother would always try her best to keep herself hidden and secret fearing the same would happen to her. Because of that, she gave birth to me in a dark alley. Not long after, she was found and thrown face first into the mud. No pony noticed me watching. After all, who would notice a foal. I hid in the alley as I watched the guards torture my parents and the rest of my kind. Within hours, most of the rest of the gypsies were either dead or rounded up and headed to concentration camps. My mom was lying dead in the street and dad was lying beside her, his head bashed in, dead as well. After that, I managed to struggle to the outskirts of the town where I was found by an older unicorn named Stardust and his wife Red Rose. They took me in as their own and raised me alongside their own children. I felt at home and appreciated with them. When I was old enough, they even scraped up enough money for me to go and attend magic school, so off I went to Canterlot. As I headed for Canterlot in the train, I couldn't help but feel bad for leaving Stardust and Red Rose. I know they scraped up the money for me to go, but I still couldn't help but feel like I was abandoning them. My first day of magic school, I did very well and impressed all my teachers. They saw that I had a real gift for magic. Even so, they noticed a bit more than that. They noticed that my magic wasn't the correct hue. They saw that it was a light, paler version of the color it should have been. My magic wasn't fully there. Because of my lack of strong magic, I was teased and taunted, so I resorted to becoming the class clown. It was what they saw me as anyways, so I figured why not give in to what they saw me as. Then I realized, no wonder my birth mother tried to hide me when I was born. She knew my magic wasn't as strong as it should have been. After four of my six years at the magic school, I dropped out and ran as far away from Canterlot as I could possibly get. I then remembered a story I was told as a child, the story of Anastasia. Like Anastasia, I was an outcast. I was the pony version of Anastasia, so I took on a new name. I took on the name Trixie Lulamoon, for you see, my birth name was actually Weak Spark. Besides, Trixie is also what my adoptive parents called me, so I decided to take it as my new name. I then went and began a new life in the mountains before moving to Manehattan and became a showman a few years later. I was finally happy. I finally had a life I could be proud of. I didn't care that I had thrown all the money from those two final years down the drain by leaving the magic school. Performing was my life then, just like it is now."
"Wow, I had no idea," replies Twilight shocked. "Why have you never told any pony this before?"
"Because I didn't want ponies to see me as weak," replies Trixie, tears forming in her eyes. A few minutes later, she breaks out into a flood of tears. The others surround her and do their best to comfort her.
"Okay, okay, I think I can continue," says Trixie, wiping the tears from her eyes. She resumes her story. "As I was doing a show one night, I noticed two familiar faces in the crowd, it was my adoptive parents. I smiled as I sent fireworks shooting into the air. Did they hate me for letting their money go to waste? I had to wonder. Alas, their faces didn't look disappointed but proud. I couldn't help but smile. I was glad they were proud of me. After the performance, I went out to lunch with them and we caught up, sharing stories, laughs, and smiles. We had a great time and spent the entire day together. The two then told me about my condition of which I was already aware. They told me how they tried to give me a normal life despite my lack of pure and powerful magic. This gave me a new appreciation of them, it made me see them in a new light. That night, I shared a hug with them before they headed on their way. I then went back to my apartment for the night. I then pulled a book down from my shelf. It was mother's before she died. I turned to the page where she had a picture of she, myself, and father hidden, pulled it out, and looked at it. They may have not loved me, but they were still my parents and I loved them. I miss them, I really do. I miss my gypsy tribe. They are all probably dead by this point."
Some more tears fall from Trixie's eyes. She then sniffles. She pulls that same picture out of her cape pocket. She shows it to her friends. They stare at the picture stunned.
"You look happy," says Starlight.
"Yeah, I know," replies Trixie. "They may not have loved me, but I couldn't help but love them. After all, I was a foal that relied on them. I was a foal when they were killed in front of me. It scarred me for several years of my life. I'm honestly surprised I can still look at this picture with no remorse whatsoever."
"That's because they were family," replies Twilight.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," replies Trixie.
The next day, Trixie goes, with picture in hand, to the old gypsy settlement. She looks down at the dust and destroyed wagons. A frown appears on her face and tears fall from her eyes. She falls onto the ground and lets the tears flood down her face and into the dirt. She stays there for two hours before finally getting up and leaving the old settlement and returning to Ponyville. Back in her house, Trixie breaks into tears once again. She is finally realizing she misses her birth parents and that, to her, is the weirdest feeling in the entire world.
The next day, Twilight goes over to Trixie's and the two continue to talk. "So, I heard you went back to your old encampment last night?"
"Yeah, I did, it's a pile of debris and broken wagons now," replies Trixie.
"What were the names of your birth parents?" asks Twilight.
"Emerald Gem and Black Spade," replies Trixie.
"I want to show you something," says Twilight. She flips through an old book on Gypsy History in Equestria. She then shows the page she turned to towards Trixie. Trixie reads it.
"Twenty five years ago, the gypsy pony tribe was founded by two ponies, a gray pegasus stallion with black mane and tail named Black Spade and a pale blue unicorn mare with green mane and tail named Emerald Gem. The encampment set up in the valley of the Oro Mountain Range. There, the gypsy tribe flourished. Within their first three years, the encampment went from a mere ten to almost one hundred ponies." Trixie stops reading. "That describes my parents to a tea as well as my old home."
"I know," replies Twilight, "that's why I showed you. I wanted you to know."
"Thanks for that," replies Trixie.
"No problem, any time," replies Twilight with a smile.
Trixie then goes over to a shelf and pulls down her copy of the book Anastasia. She then slides it over in front of Twilight. "This was my favorite storybook as a child. It was a story of forbidden love, death, and a missing princess." Twilight takes the book and opens it and begins to read it. As she reads it, Twilight begins to understand why Trixie enjoys the book so much. After a matter of fifteen minutes, Twilight finishes reading the book and pushes it back across the table to Trixie.
"I see why you enjoy this book so much," says Twilight with a smile on her face, "it's an amazing tale with compelling characters."
"Yeah, but that's not the only reason I love it," replies Trixie. "Read the note inside the front cover."
Twilight opens the front character and reads the note. "For my baby girl, remember this story when you think of me and your dad." Twilight stares up at her stunned. "This is a book from your mother."
"Yep, it's one of the few books I have from her," replies Trixie.
"That book proves she wasn't all bad," adds Twilight.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," sighs Trixie. "I just hate that they didn't see me as more than a weakling is all."
"But you know now that you're more than just a weakling, you're a great magician," replies Twilight.
"Thanks," replies Trixie.
"You're also an amazing unicorn and I'm sorry I ever doubted that," Twilight adds.
"Well, you were in the right to doubt that when I used the amulet against you," replies Trixie.
"Maybe, but that's in the past, now, we'll always have your back."
"And that means the world to me."
"I know," replies Twilight giving Trixie a hug. The two then leave Trixie's house to head out to a concert with the rest of their friends for the evening. Trixie is glad Twilight cares. Now, she's just ready to get to the concert and let the cares of the world and the scars of her childhood fade away.
The next day as she's visiting Twilight, she asks Twilight to tell her more about what she has read about the gypsy ponies. Twilight then lets something very important slip. "I may be able to do you one better," says Twilight, "I actually managed to find one other surviving gypsy pony, an elderly stallion who lives in the mountains named Speckle Moose."
"Can I meet him?" asks Trixie.
"Of coarse, we will go to his mountain encampment first thing tomorrow, for now, though, I'll tell you more of what I"ve learned about gypsy pony history," replies Twilight. The two go and sit at the cutie map table and Twilight tells Trixie everything she has read about gypsy ponies and their culture.
The next day, the two head for the mountain range where Twilight found Speckle Moose. A few hours later, they arrive at his encampment and he invites the two inside. "Did you know my parents? Did you know Black Spade and Emerald Gem?" asks Trixie.
"Yes, I knew your mother especially well, she was my daughter," replies Speckle Moose.
"You're, you're, you're my grandpa," stutters a shocked Trixie.
"Indeed I am," replies Speckle Moose. "It's been too long Trixie."
"Yeah, well, I thought you were dead," replies Trixie.
"That's understandable, most ponies thought I was dead long ago," responds Speckle Moose. "You and I were the only survivors. I went off into hiding but not before seeing you being taken in by those two ponies. Once I saw you were safe with them, I disappeared into the shadows. Your grandmother, though, and your grandparents on your father's side, they're all dead. They're all gone."
Trixie doesn't break into tears like he expected at this news but comes over and embraces him in a hug. This surprises him and he taps her on the shoulder and strokes her mane. The three continue to talk for hours and Speckle Moose continues to tell them even more history than even Twilight knows. The two even stay there to nightfall and don't leave until the next morning as soon as the sun rises. Trixie is grateful to know she still has some bit of family left. To her, that means a whole lot. Her story, she can't help but admit, is like Anastasia's. Like Anastasia, she was reconnected to, reunited with her last living relative and she'd have it no other way.
A few weeks later, Trixie returns to her grandfather Speckled Moose's to learn more about her mother and father. "What were they like, mom and dad?" asks Trixie with yearning eyes.
"Your mother, well, she was an angel, she meant everything to me. She was the favorite of my five daughters. She was also the most curious of them as well. Her big sisters always were telling me what trouble your mother was getting into. Ruby Heart, Sapphire Soul, Golden Sunshine, and Moonlight were the more favored by their mom than myself, your grandmother Reina. We lived happily until your father, the son of the leader of the gypsies, Lord Great Steed, fell head over heels for your mother upon first sight. When they were old enough, Black Spade started courting your mother. It also turned out that she returned his feelings. By the time of your mother's thirteenth birthday, she was wed to Black Spade," Speckled Moose tells her.
"Wow!" says Trixie wide eyed. "What other practices did the gypsy tribe have?"
"Well," replies her grandfather, "they married mares off at thirteen like I told you, when foals turn ten years old-they begin training for the colts and manner classes for the fillies. At only two years of age, foals are inducted in by a blood swearing ceremony. That's about all. Can I continue your parents story now?" Trixie nods. "Good. Come your mother's fifteenth birthday, she was found to be with foal. She was pregnant with you. Her attendant, Evening Flower managed to keep this secret from your father until the time was right. When it was, she told him on your mother's behalf. A year later, your mother gave birth to you. You were smaller than the other newborn foals, so your mother raised you for a few weeks until you could survive without her milk, then she abandoned you, which is when your adoptive parents found you and took you in. You never were able to grow up and get the proper magic training when you came of age, which for members of the tribe was when they are seventeen years of age for both mares and stallions."
"So I was never properly trained? I never had the chance to be. Why did my mother hate me so-enough to abandon me, enough to name me Weak Spark?" demands Trixie.
"Yes, you weren't properly trained, that's why you can only use parlor magic. When it comes to your mother's hate of you and the reasons she abandoned you, not even I know that, sadly," replies Speckled Moose bowing over and looking at his hooves, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," says Trixie, tears in her eyes.
"You sure?" her grandpa asked concerned.
"I'm sure," replies Trixie, repressing the tears.
"Maybe we should continue this tomorrow," says her grandfather. Trixie nods.
"Thanks for telling me more about my parents," says Trixie as she hugs him before walking off down the mountain.
That evening back in Ponyville, Trixie makes herself a nice hot cup of coffee and sits down at the table in her little wagon. She still can't wrap her head around everything she's been told from both her grandpa and Twilight over the last few days. Honestly, it's rather overwhelming. She picks up the cup and takes a sip of coffee. A few minutes later, she gets a knock on her door. She opens it. It's Starlight. She gladly welcomes Starlight inside and gives her a cup of coffee.
"How'd your talk with your grandfather go?" asks Starlight before taking a sip of coffee.
"It went well," replies Trixie taking another sip of coffee. "I learned so much about gypsy culture, about my mother's childhood, so much I never knew before today."
"That's great!" replies Starlight.
"Yeah, I guess, I still don't know much on why mom abandoned me, though," replies Trixie.
The two continue to talk until the moon appears in the sky and Trixie even ends up letting Starlight spend the night. As Trixie sleeps on the table, Starlight sleeps comfortably on the couch. Starlight is glad Trixie has enough trust in her to open up to her about something this important and life changing.
The next morning, the two friends rise with the sun and Starlight helps Trixie with some more advanced magic spells just like she promised. After a few hours of practicing spells, Trixie and Starlight part ways. Trixie goes to talk to her grandfather again while Starlight heads off to meet up with Twilight for a brunch with the princesses. Everything is changing and now, there's no going back.
Several years later, grandfather Speckled Moose finally passes away and with him the rest of the history of the gypsy tribe. The gypsy encampment has become dust and Trixie is on her own once again. Even so, Trixie can't help but remember her grandfather as she places a picture of her with him on the shelf above her bed in her wagon. She'll always remember him and that's all that matters.
