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// Though the Seasons May Pass: Part 2 of 2 
// Story: Tricks, cloaks and wands: The Lost Tales of a Traveling Magician 
// by divinearcadia 
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“Welcome to Flotsam.” Olive says as they come to a halt outside of the largest building of the small collection of houses and buildings under the steel gray skies and mid afternoon chill of early February. The place was well deserved of its name as the houses seemed to be largely made of the towns namesake. No two houses were the same height, width or shape. Each was totally unique and one could tell this was a place that wholly belonged to the sea that was but a short walk away. “This is probably your first time seeing the ocean, so you can go down to the docks if you want and take your fill. I'll see about our arrangements with the innkeep as there's no mayor here. We'll set everything up on stage tomorrow since the weather is always a bit unpredictable near the ocean, but we still have chores to finish before we turn in tonight, just keep that in mind.”
She smiles and turns towards the docks, the fiery soreness of her legs temporarily forgotten as she trots between the occasional passerby and makes her way to the end. The first thing she notices is the the constant salty wind that pulls and tugs at her cloak. Then there are surprisingly loud sounds of erratic waves as they break on the pylons of the dock, transferring small tremors up the legs of the tired young mare. She looks out to sea, the overcast sky pierced occasionally by brilliant shafts of warm golden light that makes small patches of the ocean shine with a deep, rich blue while the rest of the visible ocean was a chilly grayish blue-green color. As she watches, she sees a boat surrounded by one such shaft as the fisherponies are hard at work to bring home a good catch and a small flock of seagulls flying above the boat looking for an easy meal. The wind and waves serve to hide his approach as Olive walks down the dock to stand by the side of his charge who quickly takes a step the her left upon noticing his arrival to give him room to stand beside her.
“Beautiful, isn't it?” He says, his rich voice cutting through the sounds of the ocean.
“I've never seen anything like it.” She replies, her eyes never quite leaving the scene in front of her. She had lived on the landward outskirts of Manehatten for most of her life, moving slightly closer to the middle of the city when she had went to go live with her Aunt, but never had she went to visit the piers and commercial markets of the sea districts.
“I was raised in a prosperous village by the sea, and every time I come back, it's always like the first time. I've traveled the mountains in the cold northeast of Equestria, the stark plateaus of the Griffon Empire to the south and to the deep heart of Saddle Arabia to hear the singing of the sands. But it's always the ocean that pulls me back and it's in sight of the ocean that I want to be put to rest at.” He finishes slightly wistfully.
They stand there at the end of the dock for a long time, the sounds of the ocean filling the comfortable silence until their stomachs force them to the hot meal waiting for them at the inn. To Trixie, the silence of the town is oppressive after hearing the song of the ocean. Olive notices her strange behavior and smiles, knowing exactly what she's feeling.
“The ocean is a powerful thing and its absence can be quite startling, even after your first taste of it. Treat it as a friend my dear, pay it a visit on occasion but don't overstay your welcome for there will be others that you'll want to return to just as much. You'll see what I mean by the time we make our complete circuit.”
Trixie says nothing, finding herself out of her depth. She had the distinct feeling that she wouldn't be saying too much along this journey. They make their way to the inn and Trixie finds herself in a warm and well lit common room and quickly confronted by a matronly mare innkeeper. She was a stout earth pony with a light khaki coat and light green hair that had only a little of her youthful coloration as it was mostly replaced by a silvery gray.
“What a little thing you are hon'.” She says in a flurry of actively pushing Trixie to a seat near the fireplace and bringing along a tray laden with a meal for the two of them. “Olive said you were a lovely young mare, but for the adopted daughter of a baker you certainly don't look as though you took full advantage of it.”
Sitting across from Trixie, Olive leans in close as the boisterous owner moves off. “That's Fruit de Mer, but everypony just calls her Mer. She's the cook, keep, post pony, scribe for those that don't have their letters and just about anything else you can think of that's needed in a small town. Her cooking's one of the reasons why I love coming here.” He says with a smile and a wink.
At his words, Trixie finally pays attention to her meal which had been steaming warmly by her hoof the whole time. It was a bowl filled to the brim with the cooks namesake. Fish, crab, kelp and even sea urchin came together in a oily water broth that drove all thought but to eat from her mind. She has had seafood on occasion when her Aunt had made it across town for some fresh fish for something special like her Uncles birthday or when the school had it twice monthly, but she never thought to make a simple meal of it. She looks to Olive, but he was busy eating his own meal with gusto. She takes a tentative bite of the meal placed before her and immediately sets to with a will of her own. It was spiced oddly, but it was simply amazing. The broth was almost scalding hot yet, but the rest of the meal was the perfect temperature. The kelp was definitely one of the strangest things she had eaten, but she liked the oily plant with its salty taste and rubbery texture.
By the time she had finished her meal and drank the now mildly hot broth, she was full and had a pleasant warmth spreading throughout her body. Olive drops a small pile of bits on the worn table and begins to head out, Trixie following his cue and heads back to the wagon in the early twilight created by the clouds to go about the usual chores. Olive sits on the back steps of the wagon with a thick needle and a set of heavy canvas harness while Trixie heads inside to buffering their powder supply and to get the paraffin wax out for Olives use. Such was the way the day ended except for them each having a room in the inn versus the spartan wagon bunks. Trixies being on the ground floor.


The next morning wasn't as bad as the previous morning on the road had been for Trixie, but she was glad she hadn't slept on the second floor with how shaky her legs were. After going through her morning stretches and exercises, she makes her way out to the common room and is given a bowl oatmeal sprinkled with raisins and topped with a generous dollop of honey by a smiling Mer and takes a seat. Olive soon joins her, coming in from the back entrance and looking as energetic as he always does before a performance and receives an identical bowl for his breakfast.
“Well my dear,” Olive says after the first bite of his breakfast, “How do you feel about our first performance in a new town?”
“Well, it's a little daunting to say the least.” She says with a nervous little laugh.
“The scenery may be different but ponies are ponies wherever you go, even if they live a thousand miles away.”
“I guess that's true.” She says with a little surprise tinging her voice. After her reply, they finish their meal in silence and return their bowls to the counter before heading outside as the sun rises. The light hits the ocean and turns it a brilliant shade of blue and brings out highlights in the few clouds hovering high above the nearby ocean. Trixie looks out and is stricken by this new facet of the ocean, so drastically different from yesterday. A light and cool breeze blows in off the ocean carrying a taste of salt with it and she breaks her trance reluctantly as Olive moves off towards the platform to prepare it for the midday performance, herself on his heels to be about her duties.


Throughout the day, they are surrounded by a small mob of young fillies and colts, rioting at the prospect of a traveling magician stopping in their small corner of the world. Olive moves about with practiced efficiency and small distractions to draw the attention of the young ponies away from mischief. Eventually, their mothers collect them and lead them off to do their chores as their noisy complaints are met with the seasoned wisdom of “The sooner you finish your chores, the sooner you can come back.”
The pair then goes about their duties and finish preparations a little before noon, where they retire to the common room. This time, however, they're not alone as some of the more efficient youngsters have finished early and pelt the pair with so many questions that while Olive handles them with ease and small tricks to answer and deflect questions. Trixie on the other hoof is quite overwhelmed at the onslaught of exuberant questions. Olive chuckles as Mer swoops in to rescue the pair with a tray of small pastries and very plausible threats of being put to work by the earnest mare if they don't take the treats and run and the duo finish their meals in relative peace.
With their meal finished, they head outside once more to stretch and go over what it is that they'll be doing tonight. With the word about their arrival, the boats make for dock in the early afternoon to watch the show. Olive notices their return and sets Trixie to go about her business as crier but tells her to tone her exuberance a bit as this isn't the bustling streets of her home and to use her tumbling for comedic attraction to help set the mood.
It's not long before the sprightly young mare is making her way about the small village calling attention to herself and drawing the young ponies of the village to her like iron shavings to a magnet along with a few of the older ponies wanting to see what antics she may get up to. She goes about the village for a little while and when she senses the mood of the villagers is just right, she leads them to the stage and lets Olive take things from there as she falls into her supporting role. By the end of their performance, while not as boisterous, flashy or eye catching as what they had done in Manehatten, had left Trixie feeling content in a way that she had never felt performing back home. Here, they were a welcome attraction that brightened the lives of an entire village and not just ponies passing by who simply had some spare time on their hooves. She didn't have the usual bubbling joy that she would hold onto all day, but this warmth was something she could certainly live with.


They spent one more night under Mer's roof, and they were surrounded by what seemed to be the entire village during their supper. Everypony that was there made sure to visit and talk with Olive while introducing their selves to Trixie, making her feel as though she were an old friend and telling her to be sure to visit again. It was full dark before a tired Trixie finally managed to make her way to her room while Olive stayed up for hours yet catching up with acquaintances and accepting not only their fee, but small gifts ranging from salted fish and dried kelp to small driftwood carvings and much more besides.
The pair were up and about with the fisherponies in the darkness the next morning getting their platform put away with a little extra help from some who had a few extra minutes to spare before their ships departed. As soon as everything was secured and taken care of, they find themselves in the traces and ready to depart with merry smiles as they leave the last of the buildings.


They had been on the road for almost three months now, spring was in full swing and they were nearing the last stop on their coastal pathway. They've went through many trials and tribulations as only a mentor and student can have, but Trixie has learned and grown greatly during this time. Over the many days of pulling the cart and maintaining her exercise regimen, she now has something that's just now starting to approach Olives lithe strength and her new found endurance is bolstered by her youth. As they trekked northward along the coast the landscape becomes progressively hillier as they approach Olives hometown of Sea Crest.
It is on one of these tall hills they are resting on, slightly higher than the others as they look upon Sea Crest in the distance. Sea Crest sits on and covers the western side of the hill, looking as though the town spills towards the ocean. The presence of two other hills framing the hill creates a steep valley that allows for a small set of dry docks where they're able to small to medium boats without the need for extensive efforts to sculpt the land itself. Among the surrounding hills is a smattering of farm houses and terraced hillsides which helps to support the bustling town along with the many fishers.
All in all, the scene before them was nostalgic for one and energizing for the other. Olive pulls them off to the side of the road to eat an early lunch and to reminisce and inform Trixie about his hometown. The day was warming nicely with a nice constant breeze as they relax in the tall grass beside the road and enjoy a nice kelp stew with carrots diced in. For Trixie, the way they sit there and enjoy their selves, this seems to be the beginning of the next chapter of her life. One in which the life of the road and the constant change in place creates a special magic of the road for her and she welcomes it wholeheartedly. She knows she is from Manehatten and she loves her Aunt and Uncle unconditionally but the love of the road is something that is in her blood and is so intrinsically a part of her that she wouldn't be able to spend even a week in one place.
With this revelation, she discovers something completely new, yet known about Olive. The love he has for an entire place, not just somepony or even his friends, but the place itself. Yet when Trixie thinks about it how Olive feels about his home, she feels the same for Manehatten. It's not just the place she was raised in or the place that made her into the mare she is today, but who she is as a mare. Yet as all things in life come, they leave their contemplative conversation and leave the scenic hilltop to go to Sea Crest and to the places that lie beyond.


Her time in Sea Crest was special each and every time she visited the special little town. It was lazily busy for everypony and they could always spare some time for Olive if they happened to walk by his wagon. He happened to be something of a local celebrity for the middle aged ponies and those younger ones who knew of him and always an attraction for the younger ponies and foals who would be inexplicably drawn to him no matter the distance across town and at the wrath of their parents for not finishing their chores.
Trixie never has left a town like she did when she left Sea Crest four days after they had come to rest outside of a certain inn. Olive had set a constant and exuberant pace unlike in any of the others, or even in Manehatten, and it had left Trixie on the edge of her seat. Barely finishing her chores between shows, barely getting her meal in her before she had to go out and gather a crowd even if Olive hadn't needed it. It was so out of character that she even mentioned it to him one night before they parted ways after an evening performance.
“Trixie... There's always a special place that you hold dear to your heart as you travel, even if it's not even your hometown. At those places you'll feel as though you were a sprightly young pony and feel as though your parents or special somepony were watching you every moment. Even though you might not have found that place yet, you will and it will hold a special place in your heart that you won't be able to dislodge no matter the trouble you go through.” He smiles sadly and heads off to his own room as she does the same. Her thoughts as she dreams that night turn towards home, her family and the little foal she has yet to meet. She wakes the day of her first departure from Sea Crest ready to be off and over the distant horizon in the pursuit of that special place and to seeing her family next spring.


Three years has passed Trixie and it seemed only like a month had gone by. Her family in Manehatten had grown by two now and she loved every moment she spent there with her younger siblings. Alabaster was the older colt was a unicorn like his namesake, Azure the younger filly was a pegasus and her name was fitting in another way as she constantly tried to slip the confines of the house to go buzzing across the rooftops, much to her parent fright and neighbors annoyance. Trixie immediately fell in love with the foals when she met them and provided an important buffer during the little time she and Olive were in town. The little ponies would stay within hoof reach of either Trixie or Olive, but they were never for either with their experience around little ones.
Trixie and Olive decided to change their circuit this year as one of the other traveling performers decided to leave the center of Equestria open for any takers. Olive had always been the pony to visit the smaller villages, no matter how little pay they gave or how arduous the challenge. Trixie was always surprised at how extreme their venues were from one to another, even after all these years. As she saw their plans for leaving Manehatten this year, she saw that they would head from Manehatten to go through Ponyville and up to Canterlot. They would continue northeast and through the mountains up to the direct west and into the Gryphon Empire and down the western coast with two months to spare compared to their usual circuit. This would enable them to take a drastic detour next year and visit Saddle Arabia to broaden her experiences with other cultures. 


Olive had been so healthy and full of life until yesterday. They had just gone through the boarder of the Gryphon Empire and were little over a days walk from Sea Crest when he had collapsed in his harness as they had just made it over the rise of a particularly steep hill. She just stared at the limp form of Olive for a few short moments before she realized what was before her. She acted quickly, getting him and herself out of their harnesses and levitating him into the wagon quickly and in his bed. After a short time of trying to rouse him, she quickly hardened her resolve and left the interior of the wagon. With a efficient burst of magic the traces and harnesses quickly modified to accommodate a single pony.
I won't let Olive go without a fight, she thought as she fed her magical talent into the enchantments lightening the wagon. I'll make it to Sea Crest before dawn and get him to a doctor, he'll make it until then or I'll have words for him the next time we come face to face. With that thought and a flaring horn that would provide light into the long night ahead, she made her way forward towards the pony that would heal Olive. 


Trixie sat beside Olives bed in the Sea Crest general hospital. The old stallion had been sleeping for three days now and hadn't stirred since she put him in his own bed in the wagon waiting outside. You're stronger than this Olive, she thought as she watched him sleep, You've never let a show slip between your hooves if you could help it. She sat there for another hour before she finally left his room the first time since he had been moved there to trudge silently back to their wagon. She hoped to get an hours rest before she came back for a quick visit before she got everything set up for her performance that evening. My performance huh? Olive has always been in the audience when I've done a solo performance in the past. This will truly be my first show and I don't know what to do without him. She stops in the middle of the exit of the building as tears overwhelm her and she sits down on the spot to lean against the open door. She isn't there for long though as a familiar nurse who tends to Olives needs leads her to the wagon with gentle compassion and understanding.


Olive's awake! Are her first thoughts when a frantic pounding sound at the wagons door. He hasn't missed a single show yet. She quickly opens the door to see the same nurse that had helped her to the wagon earlier in the one to confirm the same news she had thought about only seconds before. She was in front of the same inn they had stayed at for three years. The innkeep simply let her stay for free and gave her complimentary meals... When she could eat anything in any case.
Olive was indeed awake as she had known and he had sent her to be sure Trixie was going to perform without him. “You can tell Olive that the show will go on and that his friends and family hope to see him on his hooves soon.” Trixie says with a mixture of relief, wryness and unadulterated joy that she had been able to save somepony close to her through her efforts. However from that day forwards, Olive never placed a hoof on the stage as a performer again. Trixie always gave a little extra in the enchantments when they renewed the magic of the wagon and made sure the weight was lowered secretly. She was sure Olive knew, but her never said a word to her about it aside from a warm smile in her direction. 
Some days, she forced Olive to stay in the wagon and to let her bear the full burden of going from place to place. He would concede to her wishes as graciously as he could, knowing it was for the best. He had slowly been loosing his frame and figure since he had collapsed. It was time for Celestia to claim me decades ago... He though one day as they had a light breakfast on a hilltop overlooking the ocean. I just had something to do before I could let go, but even when my time came, I found I still wanted to go on living...
Olive nodded off as a warm spring day broke over them and bathed them in a warm light that cradled them gently, Trixie smiled and a tear rolled brightly from the corner of her eye when she realized that this was his last nap.


The last year of being a Journeymare seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. She lived at home and studied directly under the Guild leader for street performances once word of Olives passing reached them. His passing was gentle and she had expected it the day he had collapsed. So many ponies had now passed from her life that she became the embodiment of a traveling performer in the years after she was fully licensed by the Guild. She had inherited his wagon in a last modification of his will mere days before they had left Manehatten for the last time as a pair. She took the wagon with her on her first trans-national circuit and had arrangements for a new one to await her in Sea Crest when she passed through it. She made arrangements for one of their mutual acquaintances there to turn the wagon into a memorial for Olive. She had left almost everything they had accrued over their years of travel aside from two things in particular. One was the original cloak he had given to her as a little filly on the day of her test and the plaques he had treated with such gentle touches and bittersweet glances.


The solo circuit was harder than she had ever imagined. Traveling, expenses, preparations, attracting an audience all fell on her. She often went asleep hungry as she finished something that couldn't wait until tomorrow and was too tired to even eat a cold carrot. It was something that had happened during her solo circuit that had awoken something in the back of her mind. She couldn't remember when it had happened or why, but it was a part of her and it gave her the strength she had lost, so she listened to it. She was busy performing one day when she suddenly asked her moderately interested crowd if “Anypony here can do anything the Great and Powerful Trixie could not do better?” 
From that small town, it was only a few months before she came back to Ponyville and came into contact with Twilight Sparkle, a mare the voice in her head wouldn't let her forget. She spat on Olives memory by humiliating the Great and Powerful Trixie... She deserves to be brought low in the eyes of her “friends.” Those words make Trixie cringe, she knows the pony never even knew Olive, but... She would find a way to bring Twilight Sparkle low and she would become the best magician in Equestria, then everypony would know...


The Alicorn Amulet had left Trixie Lulamoon with a lingering curse...