Several hours after the performance, the pair were relaxing in Luna’s bed chambers together, with Trixie browsing through several sheets of paper listing the hundreds of ponies who had donated earlier that day. Luna was absentmindedly reading through several papers about the structure and leadership of their newly formed charity. Luna rubbed her temple exasperatedly, sighing as she set her papers to the side.
“I must admit, I am most impressed with your knowledge of Runes. How did you ever acquire such a masterful use of them? I wasn’t even aware runes were still practiced in this day and age!” Luna said enthusiastically. “I do believe I will have to track down some of the old rune books from our old… castle…” She trailed off at the guilty look Trixie was wearing.
“What did you do?”
“Well.. Honestly, I don’t know any runes…”
“Then how did you turn that colt into a filly? That was a real inhibitor, I personally removed it from the armory to use for your show!” Luna demanded, stomping a hoof as she attempted to figure out the trick.
“A good magician, never revea-”
“Finish that sentence, and I will never reveal where I hid your body!” Luna threatened, glaring at the unicorn. Trixie gulped audibly, drawing a smirk from the alicorn.
“Well then.. Remember your bet I won months ago?” Trixie asked, levitating her hat to her side.
“Yes? What does that have to do with anything?”
“Well.. I never did spend the jewels I won from you..” Trixie confessed, pulling a single black diamond from her hat. The moon inside seemed dimmer than Luna remembered, but still sparkled admirably. “During the… Alicorn Amulet days, I learned to use the magic inside of its crystal, and after owning these for awhile, I realized I could feel stored magic inside of them too..” She focused on the crystal and a second later, it began emitting a strong white light. “If I pushed some of my own magic into it, I could use it at will as long as it was close to me.”
“So, you bound your magic, and siphoned my magic out of one of the stones?” Luna asked, skeptically.
Trixie nodded. “It seems to function like a makeshift horn, so I learned I could still use it around the ring. I don’t think it uses magic half as well as a horn, but it seemed to have a lot of magic in it so I guess it didn’t matter.”
“That is.. Actually quite impressive. It takes a near master of magical control to be able to prevent an inhibitor from colliding with ‘third party magic’, as it were.” Luna smiled proudly, nudging the blushing mare with a wing. “I wonder why I’ve never heard of anything like this before?”
“Well, I doubt I could have done it before the Alicorn Amulet. It was only due to that event that I learned to feel the magic inside crystals. Plus, I do tend to have a slightly more… intimate familiarity with your magic than most other ponies.” Trixie bragged, rubbing a hoof on her chest in a mock egotistical stance.
“Did you try using Tia’s diamond?”
Trixie and Quickshot sat in a stunned silence, staring at the still smouldering remains that had once been Trixie’s bed. A single solar diamond floated in the air between them, a crack running down the front.
“Wow…” Quickshot uttered, glancing mournfully at the burnt hairs that remained of his tail.
“You can say that again..” Trixie muttered, mourning the first bed she’d slept in in recent times that didn’t fit into a wagon. “Do you think you could get this replaced before the shows over in a few hours?”
“I reckon we can do that.” Quickshot answered, catching the bag of spare bits Trixie threw his way.
“No-no, Trixie didn’t even think to try that.” She said, waving a hoof nonchalantly.
“Right…” Luna said, making a mental note to send some servants to bring new furniture to Trixie’s room at their earliest convenience. “So, did the show go as well as you had hoped?
“Honestly?” Trixie asked, smiling down at a picture of Silver Star, her younger siblings and her mother, Grace, all huddled around Trixie, wide smiles on their faces. Their picture had been taken by the Canterlot News, and Trixie had been able to convince the reporters to make her a copy of it. “It went better than I could ever imagine.”
“Yes.. I noticed you really managed to trick Blueblood.. You realize, he will look to even the score with you after this?”
“I do. But, we managed nearly a million bits by the end of the day.. Nearly triple what we expected.” Trixie said, looking up from the photograph challengingly. “I don’t regret it.”
“I didn’t expect you to. Just, be careful.” Luna murmured, gently booping the mare with her tail from her position on the bed above her. “However, I was most impressed with Sir Fancy Pants.”
Trixie agreed, shaking her head in amazement. “Who would have guessed he would not only match Blueblood’s donation, but surpass it?”
“You do realize that he credits Miss Rarity with the inspiration for the generosity, correct?”
“I do. Rarity can be a real whiny… pain at times, but I’ve never met a more generous soul. If anyone could convince the nobles to get off their plots and help the poor, it would be her.”
Luna rolled off her back, shaking her head slightly as she laid her head on her forelegs. Trixie was again peering at that photograph, her hoof lightly tracing Silver star and her Mother, Grace.
“Trixie?”
“Yeah?”
“I know I’ve asked you this before ... But … whatever happened between you and your mother?” Luna frowned as Trixie stiffened, her hoof frozen on the photograph before she looked up slowly.
“Why do you keep asking that? Who ever said anything was wrong between us?”
“Please Trixie. Don’t try to fool me. I saw your dream, and I saw the way it quickly turned into a nightmare when your mother appeared in it. I just want to help you…
Trixie put the picture down and looked away. “I know ... I know you do, but this is hard to talk about.”
“Most things that need talking about are hard Trixie.”
“I know ... Give me a minute and ... I’ll figure out where to start.” Trixie sat for several long minutes with a deep frown on her face before speaking.
“When I was young. About 9 years old, I had an appointment at Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns. We were not a well off family, so we were at one of the few scholarship tryouts that Celestia used to oversee. My father took me and we lined up with the other parents and their children at the hall where they did the testing. I was behind a nervous little purple filly, who kept reciting spell formulas with her nose stuck in the binding of her book.” She giggled as Luna cocked her head, nodding in acknowledgment. “Yes, Twilight Sparkle.”
“Anyways, my Father was playing with me as they called the Sparkle’s into the room. Several minutes went by, and suddenly…”
“Daddy?”
“Yes, my little magician?”
“What do you think they do for the test?” Trixie asked nervously, her tiny horn just barely sticking past the brim of her magicians hat.
“I’m not really sure, but as long as you try your best, you’ll do great baby!”
Trixie smiled, another question on the tip of her lips as the building suddenly shook. A flash of bright colors could just be seen outside the windows of the long hallway they were in, but the rainbow was quickly forgotten as the doors to the inner hall nearly shook themselves off their hinges. An intense magical pressure could be felt from inside the room, and a few muffled shouts could just be heard through the large double doors.
“What’s happening!?” Mystic Flash yelled, holding Trixie close to his forelegs as he moved to stand over her. The guards nearby sprung forward, horns alight as they faced the doors. A massive crack could be heard from the hallway, and above them spiderweb cracks spread forth along the walls. A massive section of the roof broke free, showering the unicorns and guards below with rubble. The guards grunted, straining as their magic struggled to hold the several ton roof above them.
Trixie screamed, eyes squeezed shut as she hid beneath her father. When the moment passed, and she could hear everyone talking at once, she opened her eyes to see a large golden encased hoof before her eyes. She followed the pearly white hoof upwards, ending in the smiling form of her Royal Highness Princess Celestia, matriarch of the sun. She effortlessly held the section of roof in her magic, slowly lowering it to the floor against the far wall.
“Is everypony okay?” Celestia asked, peering at the various civilians and guards in the room around her. A small colt was crying, with a thin scratch across his forehead, but Celestia lowered herself to lay beside him and lit her horn. A bright golden aura surrounded the colt’s head, and the scratch he was bawling about quickly knit itself together, healing without a mark left behind.
She nodded, before turning her eyes on the double doors leading into the inner hall. “Everypony should head home. We will reschedule the trials for another day.” Before anyone could protest, the princess entered the inner hall, leaving them all behind.
“So, you were at the castle when Twilight awoke Spike?” Luna said, impressed at the chances.
“I was. We were rescheduled for a month later, once the inner hall was repaired and Celestia had gotten settled in with her new apprentice.”
“Okay?” Luna said, not quite seeing how this connected to Trixie’s mother.
“It matters, you’ll see.” Trixie said, a deep frown on her face as she lost herself in her memories.
“However, the week before our scheduled trial, my father passed away. With him suddenly gone, life fell apart. Mother was on her own to keep a roof over our heads.” Despite how even Trixie tried to make her voice as she explained it to Luna, pain was clear in each word Trixie spoke.
“I still wanted to go back though. It hurt, but, Father had been proud of my magic. I wanted to live up to that. But…”
“Are you ready to go, mom?” Trixie asked, prancing restlessly in the doorway of the kitchen as her mother walked inside. Ara Lulamoon groaned as she lifted her saddlebags from her back, slowly arching her back to try to work out the tight kinks from a long day's work.
Ara turned to look at her daughter with exhausted eyes, blinking uncomprehendingly. “Ready? Ready for what?”
“T-to head to Canterlot?” Trixie stammered, tail dropping. “My tryout for the school is in a few days …”
“Oh ... Oh my.” Ara murmured, ears dropping as she sat on her haunches. “I am sorry Trix, but we’re not gonna be able to go … I can’t take off from work to go to Canterlot for a few days.”
Trixie remained silent, her face falling as she seemed to deflate in on herself. She didn’t even react as her mom embraced her, pulling her tight against her chest.
“I know you must be horribly disappointed with me ... I will send a message in the morning and request another day for your trial-”
“Don’t bother.” Trixie said quietly, angrily pushing off her mom and storming across the room. “It doesn’t even matter.” She left the room in a foul mood, leaving her mother behind with guilt and sadness upon her face.
“My life continued like that for a few months, with my mom constantly working, leaving me at home by myself. I was allowed to play with the kids who lived nearby, but even though it took time, I began to realize that my mom was allowing me to leave the house less and less as time went on.”
“Now Mista Teddy Bear, If you would be so kind to go stand by Misses Narwhal, I shall no-” Trixie froze as she spun around, catching sight of her mother standing at the living room door, a pained expression on her face.
“Your dad would be so proud of you..” Ara whispered, ears folded down as she hastily wiped a tear out of the corner of her eye. She trotted into the living room, groaning in relief quietly as she sank into the plush armchair.
Trixie played quietly for a few moments, chewing on her lip as she tried to summon the courage to approach her mother with a request. Finally she pushed her stuffed animals away and turned to gaze at her mother reluctantly.
“Um … Mom, I was wondering about something.” Trixie said slowly, waiting until she could see her mother blearily lift her head. “Ginger, Petal and Lillypad are heading to the Bayou this afternoon. Would ... Would it be okay if I went with them? I haven’t really had a chance to hang out with them in the last few weeks…”
Ara sat up slowly, fixing her daughter with a level gaze. “You know I don’t like you being away from town. Especially out in the Bayou. What if something happened?”
“Nothing’s going to happen mom, I’ll be with my friends!” Trixie pleaded, stamping her hoof in frustration as she could already see her mother shaking her head.
“No Trixie. I have to go to work in a little while and I do not need to be worrying about you the entire time I’m gone.” Ara said, pulling herself out of the chair as she made her way into her bedroom to get what uninterrupted sleep she could before work.
“Ugh! I feel like a prisoner here…” Trixie groaned, frowning as she turned to walk next door and tell her friend the bad news.
“I understand it upset you, but is it really so bad that your mom worried about you?” Luna asked hesitantly, cocking her head at the unicorn.
“No, it wasn’t. But it grew worse. At first, it was just outside of town, then, she didn’t want me more than a block from home. And then she basically kept me under house arrest.” Trixie explained, her voice oddly lacking any emotion. “She pulled me from school, and kept me from my friends until they stopped bothering with me.I was slowly going crazy … isolation was hard to deal with. I lived like that for a while.. A few years at least.”
“How was your Saturday?” Ara asked curtly, an edge to her voice as she entered the house.
“Good.” Trixie said, glaring at a thin magazine in her hooves. “I’m all out of magazines again.”
“I will get you more when I go to the market place tomorrow.” Ara slung her saddlebags off her shoulders, coming to a stop in the doorway of the living room. “So, you wouldn't believe what I saw today. I was on the far side of the Prance quarter..”
Her eyes narrowed as Trixie tensed slightly, hooves tightly gripping at the magazine.
“There was a talented young mare there, doing an amazing magic show. You wouldn’t have happened to heard anything about that right?” After a moment of silence, Ara nodded. “Well then, one day we will have to go see this “Great and Powerful… Trixie.” Ara snatched the magazine out of Trixie’s grasp with her magic, throwing it to the floor as she glared at her daughter.
“Damnit Trixie, you know how I feel about you wandering around town when I am at work!”
Trixie stood silently, glaring at her mother angrily. “Of course I do. You never let me go anywhere, or have any friends. How could I forget!”
“It is for your own protection!”
“How is ruining my life is protecting me!?” Trixie screamed, her anger finally exploding forth. “You work every day, leaving me in this stupid house by myself! I hate it!” Her magic lashed out, cracking a vase on the coffee table. Trixie flinched at the sound, her anger suddenly deflating as she stared at the ruined porcelain.
Her mother glared at her, angry tears glistening in her eyes. “We will discuss this more in the morning, but until I get home, you will not leave this house again. Do you understand me, Trixie?”
Trixie mumbled, jaw set angrily as she turned and trotted to her bedroom. She could hear her mother stifle a groan as she to turned tail and left the living room, slamming the door angrily behind her.
“That was pretty much the ending of our relationship.” Trixie noticed the confused expression on Luna’s face, but ignored it for the moment. “With our argument that day, Trixie decided it was time to move on. She had already worked enough shows by then. She had the bits needed for the purchase and to survive a few weeks, but still... I had been hoping… I guess that things would just get better?”
“Bits.. for what?”
“For my first wagon. It had belonged to my dad.. And when he died, it had been sold to a stallion in our town, who had used it to carry product back and forth to the market … Luckily, he didn’t know how to repair the gears for the stage and just used it as a plain wagon, so when I bought it, I repaired it and..” She grew silent, staring at the photo in her hooves for several minutes.
“And..?” Luna prompted, moving to huddle against the mare on the floor.
“I ran away.” Trixie confessed. “My mother had been working two jobs for... years at that point. Trixie should have been more appreciative, but after our argument that day … I just wanted to show my mother that I could take care of myself just fine. I just wanted a real life again. Friends, and if not that, admirer’s. So, that night after she left for her next job, I snuck out. I finished the last few repairs I had left on the wagon, and I left town. I packed everything I owned into it, and I left. I never went back to Neigh Orleans … I didn’t even leave her a note.” Trixie shuddered, tears thickly matting her coat as she began crying. “I’m a terrible pony. My mother did everything she could, and Trixie turned her back on her…”
Luna gently began running a hoof through Trixie’s mane, trying to comfort her. “Every good parent tries the best they can for their child. But, she was wrong to pull you away from everything. A child with no friends or contact with others for years?”
Her hoof wrapped around Trixie’s neck, drawing her close enough for Luna to give her a tight hug.
“It would be a miracle if a pony like that learned to care for others, don’t you think?”
“I-I didn’t-” Trixie croaked out, a few hiccups preventing her from speaking for a moment. “I didn’t care about anypony. I, I just wanted to be noticed, to be seen! A-and then…”
“Sshhhh…” Luna whispered comfortingly in Trixie’s ear, giving it a soft nuzzle. “It’s okay, Trixie. You learned. You had missteps, but you became somepony capable of caring for others. And, perhaps, more surprising than that.”
Luna’s hoof gently raised Trixie’s head. They stared into each others eyes for what felt like minutes, one set teary, the other, firm and caring.
“You became my marefriend.”
Luna caressed Trixie’s nose with her own before planting a short, sweet kiss on her lips. It felt much longer to Trixie, who managed to only let out a quiet whine when Luna pulled away. Trixie nuzzled against Luna’s neck and stayed there for a few moments before speaking up again.
“I, I know she was wrong, but she really tried. She cared for me, and I wish I had found some other way…”
“Well Trixie.. If you feel that badly about it, why don’t you fix it now?” Luna suggested, squeezing her hoof against Trixie’s reassuringly. “I know that it has been years, but it is never too late to repair the mend between a family. I waited 1000 years to repair my sister and mine’s.”
Trixie stared at her for a minute, numbly shaking her head. “I-I couldn’t… It would be better if she just never saw… I just..” She grew silent, wiping at the tears in her eyes.
“If you will let me, I will arrange a chariot for us in the morning and we will go see your mother.” Luna said quietly, pulling Trixie close again with an extended wing. “I’m not going to make you, but I truly believe you need this more than you think you do.”
Trixie stared at the ground quietly, lost in thought. After several moments she stood, and walked across the room, hesitating at the doorway. She looked back to Luna and nodded shakily before leaving Luna’s bedroom, disappearing into the castle.