"Do you need anything else?" Apogee asked her mother, Delta Vee, as she sat in her mother's junkyard workshop on the outskirts of Las Pegasus.
"No."
The pale blue, middle-aged pegasus mare sat in front of an open compartment of an old rocket engine, an empty amber bottle of Buck Lite beer on the edge of the contraption, with the 16-year old filly four feet from her, with a blowtorch, and welder goggles on the shop floor between the pair.
"Maybe another tool?" The teenage pegasus added.
No response, as her mother continued tinkering inside the compartment.
"Some water?" She offered, no doubt working out in the desert got a pony parched fast.
No answer.
"...A hug?"
This last question brought a pause to the sounds of tinkering as Delta finally looked over at her daughter.
"Alright, drop the act kid. I can tell you're up to something." Delta asked, irritated at the interruption in her work.
"What?" Apogee asked, wondering what she was being accused of.
"You and your dad are trying really hard to get back in my life. What for?"
"I... W-We just want to help."
"Help with what?"
"Y'know, life and stuff."
"Of course," Delta spat, scoffing. "He wants to be a hero and dig me out of the hole he put me in. He's over sixteen years too late for that. I'm good without him."
"...Sixteen?" Apogee asked, starting to connect the dots.
"Yes, and why? Does he need me again?"
"No, I need you."
"With all that money your dad makes, I doubt it. I bet that lawyer mare could be your mom too." Delta mused, returning to her work.
"Why are you this way?" Apogee asked.
"Because your dad—"
"This is not all about dad, mom. Why do you hate me?"
Again, the sounds of tinkering halted, and the shop fell silent, as Delta looked down at her daughter, eyes widening at the rather direct question.
"Uh, I... I don't hate you... But, your... dad..."
Whatever words Delta was looking for didn't come as her eyes averted from her daughter's gaze.
"For Luna's sake, Apogee." She said, dropping her wrench and getting up, walking past her daughter towards the open door.
"Where are you going?"
"Just give me some space, alright?"
Apogee watched silently as her mother walked across the lot towards the decrepit trailer, going inside and shutting the door, leaving the filly alone with the engine, tools, and empty bottle. She sat there for a moment as the wind moved through the piles of junk scattered across the lot. After another few seconds of thought, she followed her mom's footsteps back across the dusty lot to the trailer, and stepped inside, softly closing the door behind her, and turned to the bedroom door.
"Mom?" She announced herself, seeing Delta laying on the bed, turned away from her.
"Dad and I gave you space before, but you never got much better. What's wrong?" Apogee asked, slowly stepping towards the bed. Her mom shifted slightly but otherwise offered no reply.
"...You know we don't want to hurt you... Right? Have I done something to you? If so, I'm sorry."
Delta Vee remained silent.
"I just want to be with you... That's all."
Apogee put one hoof up on the bed, then two, then climbed up next to her mother.
"I'll be here if you need someone to talk to... Or if you don't, that's okay too."
Delta took a deep breath, then let it out in a sigh.
"Your dad already hurt me." She muttered.
"What?" Apogee asked, sitting up.
"I know you don't want to hurt me. But he did. A long time ago, and it's not the kind of hurt that goes away, or heals. You're still too young to understand. You wouldn't get it." Delta told her daughter.
Apogee began to contemplate what her mom had just said.
"I get more than you think." Apogee said, rolling off the bed and landing on her hooves, facing the bed. "I get that you two can't stand each other, for reasons that neither of you will share. Whatever happened, you just won't get over it." She said.
"This isn't a Haykespeare story, kid. We're not like Julio and Romiette that wind up together in the end. If I get over it, he wins." Delta shot back.
"Julio and Romiette killed themselves at the end, mom. And looking around at this place, no offense, but I'd say dad's winning anyway."
Delta rolled over away from the window and leered at her daughter.
"What I mean is, we studied a poet at school today, who said living well is the best revenge. Both dad and I think you need help. If you hate him so much, if you really believe he's the reason you're here... Show him how good you can be without him. If I can't have a family under one roof, fine. I can learn to live with that. Then I'll take the next best thing; a family under two roofs. I still want to be with you, I still want to help you."
Delta rolled her eyes and got up out of bed, walking passed her daughter and over a pile of clothes to exit the bedroom. She stopped by the fridge, swung the door open, grabbed a cold bottle of beer with her wing, and closed it, going out the front door and back out across the lot to the workshop.
Apogee sighed in defeat, and began to look around the bedroom.
Maybe all she needed was a rolling start...
The chirping crickets were the first sign Delta heard that she had been out here with the LR79 engine until past sundown, then of course looking out the large door to confirm that the floodlights had come on, along with her trailer's porch light, illuminating the lot in the darkening surroundings. With a yawn, she dropped the wrench on the floor and exited the workshop, going back across the yard to the trailer. She came in, and looked down to her bedroom, where she saw Apogee passed out on her bed, snoring.
The second thing she noticed were the sorted piles of laundry all around the bed. It certainly looked better than how they had been scattered around both rooms. She looked at the kitchenette across from the front door she had just come through; the overflowing garbage had been taken out, and a clean bag was now in the can. The counters were still a mess, but it looked like she had tried to start sorting the dishes, empty cans, and bottles before she had fallen asleep.
Delta gave a quite sigh of resignation, hearing her daughter's words echo in her head.
'Living well is the best revenge.'
What could be the harm? She didn't have any work for the next week. That asshole lived in a penthouse; she lived in a junkyard.
So why not make it the best Celestia damned junkyard he'd ever fucking see? At the very least, it would keep that cunt of a lawyer of his off her back, who would no doubt come back eventually to see if it was 'suitable for occupancy'.
Delta quietly walked over to the bedroom doorway, looking at her daughter on the bed, out like a light.
"Alright, kid. Alright. I'll try it your way."