//------------------------------// // Meeting the Parent! // Story: Luna's Apprentice // by ScientistTrixie //------------------------------// “So. Now that we are sitting here, I feel like I need to confess something.” Trixie said slowly, scruffing a hoof at the rough stone beneath her. Beside her, Luna sat patiently awaiting her student to finish her miniature freak out. Despite arriving outside the home about two hours earlier, they had spent most of this time alternating approaching and retreating from the  small brick home before them.     The pair had quickly navigated through Neigh Orleans, despite Trixie's attempts to distract them from there destination. Luna had gently resteered her friend back toward her mother's home, until she had to get a bit sterner to keep the mare moving.     “What is that?” Luna asked, glancing up from the fashion magazine she had purchased from the nearby corner store. After the first half hour of Trixie’s hesitation, she had purchased a few magazines that looked interesting at the time, and she was nearly through browsing the small stack beside her.     “I really really,” Trixie said, standing slowly and puffing her chest out in determination. “Do not want to do this!” And bolted, attempting to dodge and weave through the nearly empty street as if she was dodging an invisible assailant. But, before she could get farther than a half dozen hoofs away, a dark blue aura appeared around her tail and stopped her in her tracks. “Trixie.” Luna said, her voice stern as she finished her magazine and set it to the side. “We have been waiting here for much to long. I commend you for coming all the way to Neigh Orleans, but you cannot chicken out at the last step of the process. So, I am going to assist you!” She smiled warmly as she reached out and pushed Trixie’s mane out of her face. “I know you are scared, so I will assist you.” She leaned forward and gently kissed Trixie’s forehead. “By forcing you to the door!” Trixie’s eyes slammed wide as Luna pitched her across the city square, forcing her hoof into the air and using it to knock three times against the door panel. Trixie froze so suddenly at the sound of her knock ringing through the suddenly quiet street, that she didn’t even feel Luna’s magic release her. The mare collapsed to her rump and forced herself into a sitting position with a glare directed at the Alicorn at the cafe across the street. “Can I help you?” A tired voice sounded behind her. A tired voice that Trixie had not heard in nearly 13 years, but was still as familiar as the back of her own hoof. She tensed up and took a deep breath, staring at Luna in shock,  but haltingly forced herself to turn. “Trixie?” “Hi mom.” Trixie swallowed, licking her suddenly parched lips nervously. Her mother stood frozen in the doorway, a pair of red rimmed glasses upon the bridge of her nose. Her mane hung limply down her back, and there was far more grey speckled in it then silver and dark blue at this point. A few new lines in the corner of her eyes and about her muzzle were the only other indication of the mares age. Her eyes were as sharp and keen as she remembered, and they shined with burgeoning tears. Trixie forced her eyes away and stared at the ground between them. “Mom.. Trixie is.. No, I.. I am.. So sorry.” She squeezed her eyes shut as she spoke, a sob threatening to escape her lips but she forced it back until she could get out the speech she had prepared for so long. “I am so sorry I hurt you. I was angry, and stupid, and.. I was so wrong to run away the way I did. I never meant to hurt you, and I know I did, I was just so angry and I felt so alone, and I understand if you never want to-” Trixie was cut off as a furry form tackled her to the ground. She squeaked at the bone crushing hug she was being subjected to, but after a momentary hesitation she wrapped her hooves around her mother and hugged her right back. A moment passed, and Trixie was losing herself in her mother's hug, like she had when she was a filly, until the sound of metal against stone came closer. “Perhaps it would be best to move this inside?” Trixie asked quietly, glancing at the various ponies on the street that were not so subtly watching the pair hug in the street. “I think that might be good.” Trixie’s mother said, reluctantly letting go of her daughter as she lifted herself off the dusty street with the help of Luna’s out stretched hoof. She dusted off her side as she glanced up, preparing to thank the stranger that had come to her assistance. “Than- Oh my!” She yelped, stepping backwards and half behind Trixie. “Oh sweet Celestia, is that Princess Luna!” She whispered, just a tiny bit to loud. Luna stifled a smile as she waited for the inevitable bowing episode. “Relax mom! This is Luna, my mentor and.. Marefriend.” She finished lamely, glancing at Luna as she made that announcement. She relaxed a little bit as the Alicorn nodded, indicating her acceptance of this announcement. “Oh.” The mare glanced back and forth for a moment, before her eyes widened even further.  “Oh! Ohhhh. So, my daughter returns home with a Marefriend in tow.. Not that I am not happy that you came home,” She explained slowly, trailing a hoof across Trixie’s back. “But, did you have to just come home to tell me your pregnant?” “MOM!” Trixie yelled, glancing around with alarm. “I am NOT pregnant!” “Oh, so Princess Luna..?” Her mother trailed off as the Alicorn slowly shook her head, a confused expression on her face. “She realizes I am a mare correct? And that you are as well?” Luna asked quietly. “Oh no, I know what kind of stuff magic can do, and I do not have a problem with it, if you love each other, it’s none of my business what forms of magic ya’ll use!” Her mother backpedaled, waving her hooves frantically. “We are not pregnant mom! Luna has been teaching me magic, and helping me come to terms with some flaws in my life, and I realized that.. I truly messed up with how I treated you, and I wanted to come see you.. With her prompting!” Trixie confessed, seeing Luna’s face as she spoke. “Not because I am Pregnant!”