//------------------------------//
// Act 1: Mommy Fearest 
// Story: Mother shows Best 
// by Skyeheart 
//------------------------------//

"Urrrrgh...come on..."

In the recesses of her personal trailer, the azure showmare's horn glowed and faded as she panted in front of her vanity mirror. Furrowing her brow and squinting her eyes, she dug deep into her magic and attempted the spell again.
Several luminescent ribbons of light slowly emerged from the tip of her horn, wrapped their way down the withers of her body like silk bandages and began to condense along her back.
A bead of sweat ran down her cheek as her magical font strained, but a gritted, toothy grin started to creep up as she looked upon the transparent and colorful shape starting to form.

Yes...yes...that's it...urrrm...just a little more...j-just a little more...just...a little...

"Trixie?"

"EEEP!!"

Hopping back on one leg in a mortified state, as if she had just been caught naughtily divulging in a very guilty pleasure, her spell shattered into a million particles of multicolored droplets before the librarian and her assistant at her open door. Collecting herself as much as possible, Trixie drained the flush from her cheeks and magicked on her trademark hat and cape that were hanging from her rack.

"Have you heard of knocking, Twilight?"

"We did...three times," Spike deadpanned.

Twilight closed the distance between them. "Was...that the butterfly wing spell I used on you back there?"

Trixie scratched her foreleg, a telltale sign of a slightly defensive position. "Well, what if it was?"

Spike couldn't help but give a little chuckle at her expense. "You really miss those wings, don't you?"

"No!" Trixie took a moment to realize even she didn't believe that remark. "Okay, yes. But that's not the only reason!"

"But is it the biggest?" Spike playfully teased.

An undignified and scrunchy frown said it all, no comment.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie, magnificent as she is, is always looking to expand on her artistry, and you all saw how everypony in Cloudsdale loved her fanciful wings..."

"Until they burned up."
A heavy nudge from Twilight told Spike this was his first warning.

"So she thought maybe she could add it to her list of awe inspiring and jaw dropping performances. At ground level of course! No higher than twenty hooves! You see what Trixie's saying?"

Twilight cocked an eyebrow, and then gave a friendly smile. "Well, I suppose that would be a pretty flashy spell to use on stage. But using it even once took a significant drain on my own magic. How long have you been trying to replicate it?"

Trixie shuffled a hoof on the floorboards. "Since we got back from Cloudsdale..."

"What? That was six weeks ago!" Twilight slowly circled around her friend. "Is that why you've asked me for research on increasing the depth of your natural magic font?"

Trixie nodded. "Not that the Great and Powerful Trixie needs to be more magical, but you...are the Element of Magic, so perhaps...you could be the only unicorn worthy enough that...maybe...could give Trixie a little help?"

Twilight smirked. "If you say please..." she answered with her head held high.

Trixie rolled her eyes as Twilight broke down in a giggle. "Seriously though," she continued, "I'm afraid the easiest way to increase your reserves is to simply keep practicing your spells. There may be some lifestyle or dietary factors to consider too, but all in all, it's basically just a long term regime of daily spell casting. And even then, some unicorns just grow faster than others. I'm sorry to say, but it may be a few more months of practicing that spell before you can build enough magic to make those wings Trixie."

"Wonderful..." Trixie groused. "Only you, Twilight Sparkle, would think hours of spell practice would be fun."

"Well, if you really want to try some costlier spells there might be a faster way of doing it," Twilight said with an offering hoof.

Her number one assistant reeled in feign horror. "Gasp! No! Twilight, of all ponies, taking shortcuts?"

"It's not a shortcut as opposed to a different direction Spike," Twilight unamusedly lectured. "Trixie, are you familiar with the concept of setting a casting grid? It's an arcanist spell class technique frequently used by the unicorn tribes during the pre-classical era. Back then, the unicorns were the ones that raised the sun and moon, so they needed to pool large amounts of magic all at once periodically. A casting grid creates a temporary link between multiple unicorns, creating a focal point for their energies. A grid can be structured several ways, each pony could cast into point, strengthening the effect of a singular spell, or the ley conduits could be centralized over a smaller portion of the casters, increasing their parameters by at least n-fold to the number of spellcasters in the grid."

Twilight realized she was going to have to tone it down a grade when all she received was a blank stare from the both of them. "Basically, you create a magic circle that allows you to access my magic as well as yours."

"Ohhhh..." her two lecture students chorused in dawning realization. Spike then rubbed a finger under his chin for a moment. "Doesn't that seem like cheating?"

Twilight shook her head. "It's not cheating. It's a spell technique that allows a unicorn to cast a spell using the power of other nearby unicorns."

"So it is cheating."

Twilight's ears flicked downwards in annoyance. "No! Trixie would still be doing all the work, she'd just be using me as an extra supply of power, focus, and stamina."

"So you're saying that she'd be using your magic to cast her spell?"
"Exactly!"

Spike spread his arms out in a smug, telltale presentation. "Cheating!"

Twilight gave an exasperated groan and ran a hoof down her face. The little dragon just didn't understand the higher concepts that went into magical theory sometimes. "Anyways, if you were to make a micro-grid between the two of us that could share our magic in the same pool, there'd certainly be more than enough to allow you to cast any spell you wanted so long as you knew it."

"Trixie is sensing a big 'but' here..." the magician said with a raised eyebrow.

Twilight's smile drew a slight wince. "Well...the strain on your magic font would be considerably less, but more complex."
"Explain."
"Well you see, creating and maintaining the casting grid is a spell in and of itself. So in actuality, you'd have to be simultaneously casting at least two different spells in order to utilize the grid. Multitasking and chaining spells, or spellweaving as it's called, is a very advanced unicorn skill that relies almost completely on control and not power, and is difficult to acquire for most unicorns. Even I'm a little shaky with it sometimes."

A dead silence followed.

"B-but of course, you're well above the average unicorn too! And transmuters and conjurors are the most intricate among spell professions anyway! So you should have no problem with it! You'll have the twice the spellwork, but five times the pony power to do it!"

She quickly went to fishing in her saddlebags for a book. "Here!" She flipped through the pages like a wind blowing across the cover. "I'm sure this volume contained some basics on circle casting...yes!" She slipped in a bookmark and levitated it over onto Trixie's drawer. "That chapter should tell you all you need know. You can come talk to me when you're ready to practice."

Trixie still looked like she had some doubts about Twilight's suggestion, but she seemed to brush it off effortlessly as usual as her mind shifted to other things. "Perhaps, but that will have to wait until later. Tonight is after all, her debut primetime performance at the Latigo!"

"That's right...it's up and coming week at the Latigo. That theater has been booked solid for months! You finally got a slot?"

"Indeed! Trixie was hoping to break out in a true flair of passion with that butterfly spell." She adjusted her hat before continuing. "But, seeing as that mastering it isn't going to be an overnight thing, she might as well take the time to prepare a different act to wow and amaze. It's not as if she needs wings to prove she's already magnificent and flawless as she is already!"

"Flawless? I should hardly think so. If anything, you are a disappointment at best, and disgrace at worst."

Trixie was taken aback at the new voice, well, new in a sense...she couldn't help but feel it sounded vaguely familiar. Regardless, she answered it the way she would towards any heckler, with indignant and haughty aplomb.
"Well! Trixie will have you know this is a private studio, invitation only! And if you've so rudely barged in to simply try and denounce her, she can only wonder what personal shortcomings you're trying to cover up for-"

"Beatrix Midsummer Lulamoon the Second! That is no way to address your elders!"

Trixie's hat fell right off as her pupils shrunk. That...that name...

She suddenly realized where she recognized that voice from. Turing on the spot, she got a good look at the newcomer standing before the open entrance. An aged near-black oxford blue unicorn mare with a cutie mark of a diadem and peacock feather and had a shimmering misty blue mane much like her own that was excellently curled and conditioned without a single stray hair in sight, wearing an expensive spider-silk dress that held many expensive gems and metals sewn into the fabric along with a sparkling silver crescent moon locket, who looked directly into Trixie's eyes with her icy shimmering magenta ones. A pony whom Trixie knew none other as...

"M-m-mother?"




My Little Pony, My Little Pony

Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahhh…

(My Little Pony)

I used to wonder what friendship could be

(My Little Pony)

Until you all shared its magic with me

Great discoveries!

Tricks galore!

A rich slice of life,

And a heartfelt score.

Budding courage

It's an easy feat

And magic makes it all complete!

You have my little ponies

Do you know you're all my very best friends?




"Please, please, do make yourself at home," Orange Sherbet said as she beckoned the maitre d'hotel with the Trottingham Darjeeling on hoof over. "May I say it is both a privilege and a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss-"

"Moonlight. Lady Moonlight Meridian Lulamoon."

They sat in the luxurious lounge lobby of the Orange hotel. Moonlight, alone to one side with nothing but the company of the twin velvet pillows beside her chair. Across from her, the six Elements of Harmony, who were sharing a long lounge sofa, minus Trixie who was standing to its side. Spike chose the carpeted floor.

Moonlight levitated up her filled teacup and took a delicate sip as Sherbet continued. "Yes, Miss Moonlight. Charmed. I certainly hope you find my staff's service to your liking."

"It is gratifying," Moonlight replied with a dull monotone. Everypony shuffled a bit in their seats. The mare before them seemed to protrude an air of regal intimidation, as if she was judging their every move and word. The fact that Trixie was obviously avoiding eye contact with her seemed to make the tension heavier.

"So..." Twilight dared to break the ice. "You're Trixie's mother?"

"Beatrix."

"Huh?"

Moonlight's head turned not to Twilight but towards Trixie, as if she was talking to her instead. "It is proper etiquette to address a noble by their correct name."

"Noble? You're royalty?" Blossomforth asked incredulously.

"No Blossom, there's a difference between the two," Honey corrected. "Nobles don't have to have a relation to the crown. They're just ponies who're entrusted with land and power directly by the Princesses or a higher ranking noble."

Moonlight took another slow sip of her tea. "Your statement is true, in a technical sense."

Honey's brow furrowed. It was the way that mare said it and the tone and posture she carried it with that seemed to make her feel she was actually saying 'yes, you are correct, but you are also completely and absolutely wrong'. Whether this was the imposition she was going for or not, it was already quite clear to Honey she was not going to be on the friendliest terms with this mare.

"Oh...OHHH!" Blossomforth's face lit up in realization. "You must be pretty important then! And this must be a really special occasion to visit too! Being a noble sounds like a lot of responsibility, a real lot of responsibility. And if I know anything from my seniors on the weather team, more responsibility equals more work. So it's probably been a long time since you've seen your daughter!"

The clink of Moonlight's tea plate being set on the table was no louder than a click of the tongue, yet from her, it seemed to create a deafening silence.
"Indeed, far too long it seems."

"Um...? I'm sorry?" Twilight looked to Trixie, but saw her friend was still reluctant to join in on the conversation. "Is there something wrong?"

Moonlight got up from her seat, and walked over to stand directly in front of her daughter. After several moments waiting for her to meet her eyes, she discarded her patience and spoke with authority.

"Beatrix Midsummer Lulamoon the Second, fifteen years has been long enough for you to outgrow your senseless pursuit of tricks and tomfoolery. You are to come back with me to Canterlot immediately."

"WHAT?!?" everypony shouted, but none more louder than Trixie.

Moonlight continued regardless, unperturbed. "Princess Luna's return has prompted a need for a series of political reforms, to which many of the noble families are vying for their say in the redistribution of influential sovereignty, including ours. This is perhaps the most opportune moment for the house of Lulamoon to regain all their original prestige and more. To that end, every member of the current household must be exemplified to their peers at their best, especially the household's next of kin. Therefore, it is in both our best interests that you cease your travels, return to the main household, and fulfill your duties as the heir to our name and title under my direct tutelage."

She now had her daughter's full attention as she stamped the floor in front of her.

"How dare you! OUR best interests?! As if! All these years and you still don't ask for what I want! I'm not going anywhere with you! And I'll have you know for a fact that I'm already at my best! My name is famous across the lands far and wide!"

"So I've heard."

The Lulamoon matriarch levitated and placed two stacks of papers before all of them. One was a recently dated issue of the Neigh York Times with a center column picture of the fruit smeared magician running away in disgrace from her unmasked Mare-Do-Well friends. The other was a volume of the Cloudsdale Quarterly, that had a flailing, falling, butterfly wingless Trixie screaming not so gracefully as its cover picture.

Trixie suddenly shrank back in abasement while everyone else rubbed their necks in shame.

"This clearly isn't the kind nor amount of attention I expected you to garner and reflect upon the Lulamoon name when I allowed you this freedom years ago. Had I known such derision to our heritage would come from my neglect, I would have collected you the moment that street performer keeled over-"

"DON'T YOU DARE WRITE HIM OFF AS IF HE'S DEAD! OR AS SOME COMMON STREET PERFORMER!!" Trixie all but shrieked. The entire lobby guests and staff while staring at the scene now, but neither Trixie nor Moonlight seemed to take heed as the magician continued her rant. "Hoofdini took care of me better than you ever did! He actually supported with more than just expectations, he took time for me, gave me hope! He was-"

"A performer," Moonlight coldly cut off. "An entertainer, and above all, inconsequential. His name held no authority or responsibility over others. His abilities had no influence on any policies. His accomplishments provided no lasting impact in the mechanisms of our society. In consequence, it would not matter if he had been born or not."

"And yet you let me go with him!" Trixie hotly argued.

"Precisely," Moonlight stated as if she had just moved a chess piece into checkmate position. "I let you go with him. You only left Canterlot because I permitted you to. And now I am here to say I take. It. Back."

"I'm...I'm a grown mare now! You can't tell me what I can and can't do!" Trixie's words came out bold, but some reason there was uncertainly in their statement.

"As long as I am matriarch, yes I can." Moonlight's voice continued to carry at the same pitch and volume, betraying no emotion. "Remember the rules of our ancestry, the decision of the head is final."

"What? That's ridiculous, she can't possibly mean her word is actual law to Trixie-" Twilight started.

But Honey cut her off with a nudge and a whisper. "Actually Twilight, she might very well be within every right to force Trixie to obey if she's invoking what I think she's invoking."

"Huh?"

Honey drew from her near limitless well of historical knowledge to explain. "During the classical era, the difference in power between the nobles and the commons was much more drastic, and therefore their names carried more weight and power. To maintain order among the limited number in power and prevent radical shifts in policy making, the stable lords made a consensus to establish a hierarchy for family members of each noble house, with the eldest female on top."

Twilight was flabbergasted that such rules had actually been validated back then. "But that was thousands of years ago, that kind of absurd law can't possibly still exist!"

"Technically speaking, it was never officially interdicted. As power continued to decentralize, allowing for the rise of the bureaucratic class, the nobles' controlling influence shifted towards mayors, district attorneys, and federal unions rather than lesser members of the family, rendering the matriarchal rules virtually obsolete. So the nobles just stopped enforcing them at some point. I'm pretty sure almost nopony even knows they still exist anymore."

"Apparently Moonlight isn't one of them," Octavia plainly noted.

Twilight looked from Moonlight's strict impassive face to Trixie's increasingly distressed one. The implications fully sunk in then.
She's not kidding. She really can force Trixie to do as she says. She can take Trixie away from Manehattan, away from us!

"Wait!" She suddenly blurted out. "Maybe Trixie isn't a political savant or proper noble here, but she still makes a difference! She's very important to this city! You can't take her away!"

Moonlight shifted her gaze to the lavender unicorn for only a moment. "You are...Twilight Sparkle, correct?"

"Y-yes?"

And then Moonlight's gaze was off. "Then you out of everyone here should know the significance of upbringing. You will have your own affairs to attend to soon regardless, and would be wise to address them instead."

"Huh?" Twilight was finding this to be her word of the day for some reason.

"Miss Moonlight, if I may speak from experience, perhaps you're being a bit hasty in your judgement to believe this sudden change is most prudent course of action," Sherbet suggested. "Perhaps it would be best if you ascertained our dear companion's acumen personally before reaching any absolute decisions."

"Yeah! There's gotta be something here she can do to prove she's good enough to stay in Manehattan!" Blossomforth encouraged. "Like, uh, maybe..."

"The Latigo!" Spike exclaimed.

Twilight's eyes lit up. "That's right! The Latigo! It's one of Manehattan's biggest and renowned theaters, and Trixie has a performance there tonight! If you come to the Latigo tonight, you can see how much of an accomplished mare she really is!"

"W-what?" Trixie nervously asked.

The others eagerly clamored and and insisted alongside Twilight's declaration to Moonlight. And amongst the chatter and pleas defending their showmare friend, Moonlight raised a solitary hoof to shush them all.

"Very well. At your insistence, as her most current acquaintances, I will observe firsthoof exactly what my daughter has made of herself since our last exchange."

She then proceeded to canter to the exit, pausing only one last time to turn her ever expressionless face to the group. "If you will excuse me until this evening."

Everyone let out a huge collective sigh of relief the moment she was gone. "Celestia's mane, that was sure close!" Blossomforth breathed.

"Still might be," Honey warned. "She's only going to let Trixie stay if she likes what she sees tonight."

"Come on girls, it's in the bag," Spike reassured. "We've all seen her shows. There isn't a pony in Equestria Trixie couldn't wow with the magic she does! You'll show that old mare of yours who wears the cape in this city, right?"

But the only response he got when he turned to Trixie for an answer was a puff of blue smoke, followed by the azure mare tripping over herself out the door.