"Well, that's done." Trixie sighed as Rose and herself stood in the now empty room after moving everything down to the basement. There wasn't a lot of heavy things thankfully, nor was there as much as they originally thought so it wasn't that much work. They were already tired from their long trek from Fillydelphia to here so didn't really want to do a lot of work yet they wanted to ge everyone's room at least sleepable. Not tha the other two rooms wasn't as they were already furnished, but they did have some dust that needed cleaned.
"Finally...we can get the bed from the trailer." Rose sighed, thankful this was done. She wanted to hit the books, but first they would have to move the mattress up here. They could unload the rest of the trailer tomorrow.
"Maybe we should eat first." Trixie suggested as her stomach growled, "Let's go see what we can get from the market."
"There should be enough apples for you and Summer in the trailer...we should hold off on spending any money we don't have to until Rarity comes tomorrow. We need to see how we get paid and how much." Rose said, refusing to meet Trixie's questioning gaze.
"There's barely enough in there for two...much less all three of us." Trixie said slowly, "Surely we can afford enough to get enough so all three of us can have something to eat."
"I'll be fine...you two split what's left. We can go shopping tomorrow when we see how much money we can budget for food until we get paid." Rose explained softly, not wanting to upset or worry Trixie. Of course they had money, but if Rarity changed her mind or they had to run because of more ponies reacting like Velvet and Rainbow had, then they need that little bit of money.
"No, we are going to get enough so all of us can have something and that's final." Trixie huffed out as she moved to Rose and nuzzled her. "Trust me, everything will be fine, I promise."
"Momma...there's a weird pink pony at the door." Summer called from downstairs which surprised Rose as she had thouht her daughter was playing in her room.
"Strange pink pony?" Trixie asked as a shiver traveled down Rose's back.
"I think it's Pinkie Pie...I have a bad feeling about this..." Rose sighed as the two made their way down the stairs to see a pink earth pony who seemed to be having a hard tome staying still.
"Come on, hurry or we're going to be late!" Pinkie said, her eye twitching a little as she turned to head for the door.
"Late for what?" Trixie asked slowly as if talking to a crazy pony...not that she was far off in her mind.
"Silly, your going to be late for IT!" Pinkie cried as she kept motioning for them to follow her.
"Come on mamma and auntie, we're going to be late!" Summer cried hoping around the pink pony, her wings fluttering as she glided a little making Rose smile. It was the first time she had seen her daughter glide for so long. After she was born, the doctor warned Rose that being a hybrid her magic may be a little off making it difficult for her to ever fly without being corrected. When asked, the doctor had said it was a very rare condition that is easily curable yet it wasn't widely known as only a few hybrids had been born over the last decade.
"Okay, but only if it won't take too long...we still have things to get done before night gets here." Rose said humroing her daughter and following behind Pinkie and an excited Summer.
"Fine, but we will be talking as soon as we get this it over with." Trixie whispered to Rose as she joined her sister.
The walk from the botique to what was obviously a bakery took only a few minutes, but one thing confused Rose as they came to the door. It was a little odd that the bakery was closed already, yet there wasn't any light coming from inside which worried Rose a little. Pinkie just smiled at them while Rose felt a little fear creeping up inside her. Was this some kind of trap.
"Oh look at the time, we better run. Come on girls." Rose said turning around starting to leave only for a magic aura to surround teh mare and drag her inside making Trixie snicker a little. She didn't believe it at first when she suspected something like this with the bakery closed. She didn't think it would be for them though until she noticed a banned through the door despite it being dark inside. She could make out 'WELCOME' printed on it despite the lack of most of the light. The only light was coming from the lit up horn of Twilight Velvet giving a soft smile to them.
"SURPRISE!" A chorus of cries coming from around them as Trixie followed her niece and slightly panicking sister inside. She had to admit she felt touched that any pony would throw them a welcome to town party after her last visit here.
"What's going on?" Rose asked, shaking a little as her eyes darted back and forth around the room.
"Don't you dare hurt my mamma!" Summer cried out taking a defensive stance. The poor girl didn't know what a surprise party was since she really didn't have any friends back in Fillydelphia, but they always celebrated. After all the little filly had brought so much happiness into their lives that they wanted to give the filly as much joy in return.
"Relax sugarcube, we ain't gonna hurt your mamma." An earthpony said wearing a stetson hat, a thick southern accent in her voice. "Name's Applejack and we just wanted to welcom y'all to town."
"It's a surprise party, sis." Trixie whispered to Rose as she nuzzled her comfortingly. She had almost forgotten that though the mare wanted more ponies to see her as normal, she still had problems around large groups such as this. And the group was large as the room was full of ponies talking and lauging with each other.
"So...you aren't going to hurt my mamma?" Summer asked making Rose walk up to her side and gave her a half hug while nuzzling her.
"Of course not silly filly, this is a party showing how happy we are to have you here." Pinkie Pie cried out.
"Wait...I want to say something." Trixie called out getting every ponies attention. "I wanted to say how sorry I am for the trouble that my last visit caused. I was just trying to entertain you all...I never expected any pony to take some of those stories so seriously."
"It's alright dear." An older mare said as she came forward, glasses perched on her muzzle. "I'm the Mayor here and we found out that little Snips and Snails was behind bringing that Ursa into town. While some were...upset that your story caused it, most of us know better."
"We're sorry your trailer was destroyed." A queit pegasus said as she walked up next to Rainbow Dash. "I'm happy to see that you are okay though."
"Oh wow, I love your mane!" Summer cried out as she admired the pegasus's mane getting chuckles from every pony. "Mamma, I want my mane to be like hers."
"Kids got good taste." Rainbow said nuzzling the otther pegasus by her, "This is my marefriend Fluttershy."
"So your going to teach me how to fly?" Summer asked with wide eyes excitement, though she already knew the answer. As Rainbow started talking to her, Rose noticed how they walked off to the side of the room along with some of the teenage ponies she saw when they first came into town. Looking over to Trixie she found her sister eating a large piece of cake and chatting with Rarity making her shake a little.
"Hey there, Kiddo." Night Light said getting her attention. He looked a lot like his picture, though the look in his eyes made him seem as if he was very tired. "I'm sorry about what happened between my wife and you earlier. She...we don't exactly like gypsy ponies after some kidnapped one of our daughters. And...well...Trixie kind of reminds us of a gypsy with her stageshow."
"She's retired." Rose sighed rubbing her hooves together nervousy.
"Still, my wife really didn't mean to upset you like she did. When she thought about foalnapping...she snapped..." Night Light explained, floating a couple pieces of cake over in his magic and gave Rose one while taking one for himself. Rose couldn't help giving off a soft moan when she tasted it...she couldn't remember tasting a cake anywhere as good as this. Sure Gordon Ponsey was an awesome cook...but this was different than those overly complicated...yet delicious entrees. "I see you like the cake...I have to admit, Pinki makes the best cake in Equestria."
"You said your daughter was foalnapped...what happened to her?" Rose asked softly, inable to help herself. At first she didn't think he was going to answer, but he finally gave out a long sigh.
"We never found her...we were told more than once she was most likely dead and while we understand that it is very likely...we like to believe she is alive and happy out there somewhere."
"I'm sure she is." Rose sighed as she looked across the room to Trixie for a moment. "Can I ask you something a little...personal?"
"I'm not sure how much more personal you can get." Night Light chuckled good naturedly, "But sure, go ahead."
"You are...the father of Twilight Sparkle, right?" Rose asked, noticing the pained look come across his eyes. "I...heard some pony mention it...and saw that a couple places in town was named after her. Did...something happen to her?"
"I don't really know how to answer that." Night Light sighed, his eyes starting to water a little as he looked over to his wife talking wth the Mayor. Taking a softer tone, nearly whispering he continued. "Twilight Sparkle is a subject especially touchy with my wife...and me. She ran away after a huge misunderstanding and we learned that she believed we didn't love her. We love her though, more than you will ever know."
"Believe me, I understand how much love a parent can have for their child...no matter how that child came to be." Rose sniffed looking over at her daughter having a good time chatting with a trio of teenage fillies and a light brown earth ony with a darker brown mane that every pony seemed to show respect yet avoid him to some extent.
"I imagine you do...listen, I'm a counselor so if youever need a pony to talk to, my door is always open free of charge. I imagine going through what you have must be very difficult." Night Light said honestly, yet at the same time it was obvious he was trying to change the subject.
"It...can be...but my sister and daughter give me a reason to keep going on." Rose sighed, "Let me guess...your wife told you?"
"I'm sorry if she wasn't supposed to, but she only did it so she could ask if I would speak with you. I would have offered my services free anyways without her asking...no pony should have to deal with what you have alone." Night Light responded refilling their plates much to Rose's delight as she gave him a nod in thanks.
"It's oaky...and thank you, I'll keep that in mind...but, I was wondering something about what you said." Rose said trying to change the subject back. She felt bad doing it, but she had to know more...she couldn't stop herself. "What kind of misunderstanding did you have?"
"I was kind of hoping you would drop it." Night Light chuckled, though it wasn't really in amusement. "I guess I should talk to you about it, mabe it will get you more comfortable in opening up with me if you need it. Plus...maybe it will help you avoid making the same mistakes with your own daughter. Anyways...my daughter moved here from Canterlot to persue more of her studies, but a while before she did we found out that I had cancer. We wanted to hide it from her so it wouldn't distract her from her studies until it was either cured or we no longer had a choice in telling her if it became too advanced to treat. I was too sick to make the journey out here to see her, though I really wanted to. My wife didn't want to leave my side and we just didn't know what to tell our daughter since we always believed honesty was truly the best policy. We didn't want to lie to her so we avoided answering any questions in our letter about how we were doing."
"So...you were too sick to come here and what...she thought it was because you didn't love her?" Rose asked, her voice a little shaky, but thankfully Night Light didn't notice since he was fighing off hos own tears.
"Yeah, but it gets worse. A couple months before her birthday I was finally given a clean bill of health since the canncer went into remission. My daughter's friends was planning her a surprise party for her birthday and contacted us. I needed some time to regain my strength, but we had every intention of coming here to be with our daughter for her birthday." Night Light sniffed, "It never happened though...our son was seeing a wonderful mare, but...she was kidnapped and replaced by changeling who used magic to subtly influence most ponies thoughts. Our daughter...she's very special and has a high immunity to magic like that, though for some reason she falls for illusions much easier than others. In the end the changeling was defeated but my daughter felt as if every pony hated her and she ran away..."
"Have you heard anything about her?" Rose asked, swallowing nervously. She wasn't too sure how much of this to believe, but all of the reports from Nomad's spies did kind of support this story if looked at it in the right way.
"No...I lost both of my daughters and not a night goes by without me praying for their safety and happiness." Night Light said.
"I'm sure they are safe and happy." Rose said getting a smile from the stallion. "I'm sorry if I brought up bad memories."
"It's fine kiddo, just make sure that your daughter never doubts that you love her. And don't take any moment you have with her for granted." Night Light sighed, "I'm sorry, the cancer is in remission still, but my body gets tired so quickly still. I need to get some rest."
"Of course...and thank you. If you ever need any pony to talk to, I'd be honored to listen." Rose said returning a smile though she knew he couldn't see it. A part of her had hoped that maybe all of it was truth, though she couldn't really remember anything. She was getting odd feelings of deja vu all day since arriving though...She knew a lot from the reports, but reports weren't always completely accurate. She couldn't help wonder just how much she could trust Night Light either. The only way to know for certain was to get her memories back, but like knowing about her past from reports there was something else she only knew though it wasn't because of memories. She knew that she was hurt...beaten, cut up and raped...and if she remembered the stuff about her past with these ponies then...she would remember that night to.
She didn't want to remember that night...
She was happy with her sister and daughter...and that was all she needed...so why was she feeling the need to be close to her parents and her friends even though she was angry with them? It was their fault it hapened to her wasn't it? Yet even if she could go back and prevent herself from running away she wouldn't. That night...even not remembering it, it still caused her pain and stress, though it was the reason she had Summer and she wouldn't trade her daughter for anything.
~~~
"So you had a good time?" Rose asked, enjoying yet another piece of cake as she sat in the store room of the botique, the two using the counter as a makeshift table. The part had gone on for a few hours until the three dismissed themselves, only to have a lot of leftovers in boxes given to them. In all, there was enough food to last them several days...it would last longer but it would probably go bad if left like that. And the best part, not all of it was cake, there was plenty of normal food as well.
"Yeah...once I got used to ponies actually talking and not glaring." Trixie laughed, a little surprised that she didn't get many hateful looks after spologizing and if what she was told was true they really weren't mad at her, just at what happened.
"Did you mean what you told them?" Rose asked, curious to know as Trixie nibbled on a carrot chip.
"Well, for the most part I meant it. I had a long time to think about what happened and while I still hold a little resentment over what happened...if I wasn't being such jerk about the hecklers then things may not have escalated so much." Trixie sighed, "What about you...are you okay? I saw you talking with...him..."
"Yeah...I kind of found out some things. If he's telling the truth they loved me...both of us very much. The reason they supposedly ignored me was because Night Light...he has cancer." Rose said, frowing a little in thought. It made her want to get to know them better and maybe...maybe reveal herself to them. She didn't want them to see her like that though, see all of the horrible scars she believed littered her body. Of course Trixie kept telling her that they were barely noticable, but Rose could see each and every single one. Nomad was right, she would scare ponies if she went without her cloak. "He...he's okay, but he apparently gets tired quickly."
"Are you going to tell them?" Trixie asked, swallowing nervously. She didn't know if she trusted them after already being betrayed by the two ponies she believed were her parents for so long.
"No...I don't think so...unless you want to." Rose sighed, "He told me they miss you so much...that every pony tells them you have to be dead by now. They don't want to believe that though. He said...he said they pray every night that you are okay and happy wherever you are."
"Yeah...I don't know how much of that to actually believe." Trixie sighed. "He may have just told you that because he wanted to make himself look good in front of a stranger."
"I don't know...I do want to believe him though. There was just something in his eyes and voice." Rose said hesitantly. She really did want to believe it, but she was afraid to at the same time.
"For so long all I wanted was a happy family, sis. I have that now, you and Summer are my family and I love you both so much. I...I don't want to risk changing that bytelling them who we are." Trixie sighed, "I kind of want to know what it would be like to be held by them and be told they love me...but you and the squirt are more imporatant to me."
"And you are important to us Trixie, we love you." Rose said giving her sister an encouraging smile. "No matter what, you have us."
"Thanks sis...I think I'm going to check on Summer and head to bed. We have a long day tomorrow." Trixie said as she got up and came around to nuzzle Rose. "Good night."
"Good night, sis." Rose said as she nuzzled back. No matter what, they had each other and Summer and that would never change.