//------------------------------// // A Filly's Rebellion // Story: The Ties that Bind // by the7Saviors //------------------------------// From the moment Hoofdini had finished his talk, things had already begun to change for the little blue filly. Unfortunately, a couple of speeches -- as empowering as they were -- weren't enough to completely dispel years of abuse and torment. The fear was still there, but Hoofdini's words had dulled it somewhat, and to Trixie, that was more than enough for now. It was a foundation she could use to build up her courage. And then maybe... Well, she didn't know what she'd do right then, but whatever she decided to do, she would do it with her head held high. That, at the very least, would be something to strive for. Trixie though about all these things and more as her father led her away from the stage and back to her house in the slums. Hoofdini had decided to end the show there for the day, but Trixie had overheard him mention to the crowd that he would be in town performing for the next four days. Upon hearing that, Trixie had chosen a short term goal to strive for. She promised herself she would see Hoofdini again before he left town, no matter what it took. Although she herself didn't realize it at the time, Beatrix "Trixie" Lulamoon had finally found the drive to accomplish what she set out to do. But reaching even her short term goal would prove to be easier said than done. The First Day Trixie lay curled up within the basement, trying to ignore her sore ribs and the pain in her blackened eye. It had been a full day since she and Hoofdini had performed on stage, and just as she had feared, her mother was already home by the time she and her father had arrived. Sure enough, her father blamed Trixie and her mother had acted accordingly. The beating had been as terrible as she had imagined, but after it was over and she was locked in the basement for the night, she found that the spark that had grown inside of her hadn't gone out. That alone was enough to lift her spirits and she was able to fall asleep with a small smile on her face despite the terrible pain. Once she had awakened she had tried to leave the basement only to find that it was still locked. She had tried to call out to her parents, but received no answer. And so she waited. At the very least she had her deck of cards to play with, but her card games soon gave way to boredom. The boredom in turn, caused her to think about her predicament. With her newfound determination, she had originally planned on sneaking out of the house while her mother was at work and her father was asleep, but with the basement door lock, all she could do was wait for another opportunity. She wondered what kind of spectacular tricks Hoofdini was performing today. She wondered if he had found a new assistant to help him and somewhat bitterly wondered if the assistant was more adorable than she was. She frowned at the thought. That wasn't like her. She had never been the jealous type before. She had never really gotten the chance to see how other foals -- or ponies in general -- lived, so what would have to be jealous about? She put the thought out of her mind for the moment and went back to her cards. When her father had finally opened up the basement door that afternoon she made to leave, only to be pushed back down the steps. When Trixie had asked why, the only response he gave was to throw a dirty brown bag down at her hooves and slam the door shut before locking it once again. She opened the bag to reveal some kind of foul smelling leftover vegetable dish. She looked from the bag to the lock basement door, and that's when it dawned on her. They were going to leave her locked down here like some kind of prisoner. Was this some kind of punishment for what happened in town? Did they know she had been planning to sneak out? Whatever the reason was, Trixie knew one thing for sure. She had to find a way to get out of this house and into the city before it was too late. The Second Day Trixie's stomach growled. She had been fed twice yesterday during her... incarceration, and normally that would be enough, but she wasn't able to keep her dinner down. She had tried the door again, but still found it locked tight. It was only the second day down here, but she was already beginning to get used to the isolation. If she was being honest, she preferred it. It was better than the beatings and she wasn't forced to do any chores. She could deal with the boredom, but she couldn't embrace the complacency while she still had a goal to accomplish. And so she planned. She spent most of the morning searching the basement for anything that would help her escape. Any kind of hole she could crawl out of, or some kind of tool she could use to break the door. She was looking through one of the old cardboard boxes when she suddenly heard the basement door open. She yelped in alarm as she was dragged out of the basement by her mother and into the living room. It was an absolute mess. There were empty boxes of take out all over the couch and floor, spilled mugs of cider, newspapers ripped apart and thrown everywhere, and all kinds of stains that Trixie couldn't identify on the carpet and furniture. The filly was completely baffled by the mess. She had just cleaned the entire place only a couple of days ago and now it looked like a tornado had hit. Apparently her father had some kind of party late last night while her mother had left to do... something. When Trixie had dared to ask what, her mother had only shaken her until she felt like she was going to hurl and thrown her to the ground. Whatever had happened, it seemed as though Trixie had somehow managed to sleep through it. Her mother had of course, demanded her to clean the mess. Trixie didn't know what it was. Maybe it was the indignity of being locked in the basement finally getting to her. Maybe it was the fact that she had been left alone with nothing but her thoughts to keep her company. Maybe she just wanted to be brave like Hoofdini. Or maybe she had finally snapped and gone crazy. But she refused. She turned around, looked her mother dead in the eye, and gave a flat "No." She observed the shocked, dumbfounded expression on her mother's face and she almost laughed. It felt good -- great even. It was as if some great weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and the feeling was practically euphoric. So lost in the act of defiance was she, that she barely registered her mother's enraged screams. Oh, she felt the blows dealt by her mother and they were painful -- extremely so -- but when it was all said and done, and she was literally thrown back into the basement, she didn't care. She had finally done it. Trixie had defied her mother. As she lay, bruised and beaten in that basement, she closed her teary eyes and smiled brightly. That small spark grew into a tiny flame that day. The Third Day Time was running out. Trixie tried to ignore her various aches and pains and focus on finding a way to escape. She had done what she never thought herself capable of, and though she didn't regret saying no to her mother, the pain made it hard to concentrate on other things. After another thorough search of the basement she concluded that there was nothing down there that would help her. And with the door locked she wasn't strong enough to... Wait... She didn't have nearly enough physical strength, but her magical strength should at least be enough to unlatch the lock on the other side of the door. The thought to try something so simple hadn't even crossed her mind with everything that had happened to her so far. She had never attempted to telekinetically handle anything she couldn't see, but she knew that basement door like the back of her hoof. And so, she waited and listened for her opportunity -- for a time when neither of her parents were going to be around. Unfortunately both her parents had other ideas. Late that morning, as she was pacing the length of the basement, both her parents came in and once again, dragged her out to clean. Emboldened by her last act of defiance she refused once again to painful results. This time however, they didn't relent. She was asked to do various tasks time and again, and time and again she refused to do what was asked of her -- focusing only on what Hoofdini had said about not giving in to the fear and pain. This went on for most of the day, until Trixie was in so much pain she literally couldn't move. Her parents were furious. They hadn't injured her so much that she couldn't work, but the constant assault overtime had worn the filly down and now she was useless. In fact, they were beginning to realize that physical punishment wasn't working anymore, and while Trixie's mother couldn't fathom why, Trixie's father had an idea as to what caused the change. After locking Trixie back in the basement for the rest of the day, he explained his thoughts to his wife. Like Trixie, her father had overheard Hoofdini mention his stay in town and was waiting for the chance to get back at the pompous sack of horse manure. And with that thought in mind, Luciano Lulamoon set out to Hoofington proper to have a little chat of his own with Mister Hoofdini.