//------------------------------// // Chapter One: On the Road Again // Story: Hearth's Warming on the Rock Farm, with Trixie Lulamoon // by TheCrimsonDM //------------------------------// Hearth's Warming on the Rock Farm, With Trixie Lulamoon Chapter One: On the Road Again Written by TheCrimsonDm I stood inside yet another small office; the stallion sitting behind the desk was a plump little guy with a giant hat on top of his head. There was no way for to relax while he stared at me with judgmental eyes. I’d done this song and dance before, so many times, and I already knew how this was going to play out. That didn’t stop me from hoping though. “I’m sorry miss, Lulamoon. It’s just that I’ve heard about your… past performances, and I cannot allow my stage to fall to such antics. So I’m going to have to turn your application down,,” He said in a calm and steady voice. Inside I was screaming, rage and pain all swirling about from yet another rejection. What I wanted to say was, you don’t deserve a magician such as myself.  What I actually said was, “Okay.” “You can leave now. I hope you have a nice Hearth's Warming,” He said, although I seriously doubt he cared. “You too,” I replied as I left the small office. The walk out of the building, even if it was only a few yards away from the door, was a long one. By the time I had reached the door, the hot anger running through me was already losing foul only to be replaced by an empty pain. I didn’t know what I expected to happen in there, I guess I had hoped that somepony would take… pity on me, considering the time of year. As it stood it was already looking like another lonely Hearth's Warming for me. Without anything else to do, I decided to go back to the hotel. I couldn’t help but to be thankful for the fact that the hotel was only a few blocks away. So I walked up to my room and pulled out my key with a little magic. I floated it up the lock and tried it. The lock didn’t turn. Anger flashed through me as I fiddled with the key and lock for a few seconds before giving up. I marched downstairs and into the lobby where the manager sat behind the desk. She was kinda cute with green fur and orange freckles, but she barely even looked at me from behind her newspaper. Clearly she did not care for me. “Why is the door locked?” I asked. “My key isn’t working.” “I changed the locks this morning while you were gone. You’re money only paid for twenty eight days,” She said. “You said that I would have this room for a full month! I have two more days left,” Trixie demanded. “I said that I only rent by the week, and that four weeks was almost a month,” She said. I stomped my hoof. “This isn’t fair!” “Life isn’t fair. You didn’t even get that job did you?” She asked. I looked away. “What business is that of yours?” “That’s what I thought. Look I can’t have deadbeats lying around the place,” She said. “But… it’s almost Hearth's Warming; you can’t kick me out yet. Have some holiday spirit,” I pleaded. “It’s really simple. You either pay up, or get out,” She said coldly. This continued for a few minutes until she threatened to call the cops. I didn’t want that on my plate too, so I just turned and left. It was cold out here. I had a little bit of change left, but it wasn’t nearly enough for even a single night at the hotel. Chances were if I started looking now I could find a warm enough alley to sleep in, but that wasn’t going to help me in the long run. That’s when I remembered the letter I had sent out just in case this avenue failed me too. My last ditch effort to keep myself from going back on the streets. All I needed to do was to check my mail, and if I was extremely lucky. Everything would go well. Though working the farm a second time was… not ideal. In fact I hadn’t even tried to talk to them after the crap I pulled in Ponyville. It had been a long couple of years, drifting from town to town, and with many unpleasant jobs. I could only hope that this would work out. The Great and Powerful Trixie couldn’t become a vagabond, I couldn’t become that. My personal mailbox was located at the post office considering the fact that I hadn’t had an actual home or apartment in quite some time. So that’s where I walked too, trying to not to slip and fall on the ice and doing my best to avoid the thick piles of snow. With the cold winter all around me, I was more thankful than ever for my pink sweater. At least somepony had been kind enough to give this to me, though I’d rather have a stable income. The post office stood as a quiet landmark, only a few ponies were actually inside and only one mare was working the front desk. I had to admit she was somehow skinnier than me, and sort of lanky, but she smelled like dandelions, so apparently she was doing well off. Perfume was a luxury I missed. “Excuse me,” I said as politely as I could. “What can I do to help you today,” She said in a flat tone. I couldn’t help but to notice the bags underneath her eyes. “I’d like to know if any mail came in for me,” I said as I slid the key out from my sweater pocket and set it down on the table for her. She gave me a tired look and took the key. “It’s box number 32.” The mare turned around and walked to the lock boxes in the back. I looked around. At first I had been a bit confused by the way they kept all the mailboxes in the back and out of public reach. Then I heard about how many times ponies had broken into the lockers and boxes in the past, so it only made sense. The mare came back with only a single letter. I took both the letter and the key back. After thanking her I found myself a seat on one of the benches and took a closer inspection at the letter. It was gray, of course it was gray, and the writing was in black print, very neat looking. I opened it. “Dear Trixie Lulamoon. I am agrived to hear that ye have suffered so. if thou dost wish to return and join us for the Hearth’s Warming, we would be exceedingly glad to have you! We may further discuss these matters upon your arrival; however know that thou art always welcome among us. For thou were not hired merely to render aid upon our far, but because thou hast a good heart, and thine few errors are easily overlooked and forgiven. Please return to us. Sincerely Cloudy Quartz.” Cloudy had always been very nice to me, nicer than I really deserved. Sadly I knew what I did to one of their children, and even worse I knew that they knew it. It was a little surprising to think that they might not hate me for what happened. I let out a sigh. “Well, guess I’m going back to the rock farm…” I caught myself smiling a little. It couldn’t be so bad. I mean they were very understanding in the past after all. That was it. I stood up, put the letter into my pocket and was about to make my way to the train station when I realized that I was broke. This was a problem. There was one way I could get some money, but I was a little hesitant. Surely I was past this, I had done so much to improve myself, I didn’t need to do this anymore… *** The street I stood on was busy enough, but at the same time it wasn’t too busy to worry about getting in trouble. With a cardboard box, three white paper cups and a single rock, all scavenged from the trash, I opened up shop. It didn’t take long before I began pulling in the curious, the greedy, and the stupid. “Do you have what it takes? The perception and the skill to challenge my game of cups,” I said enthusiastically. A mare with a red fur coat and dark blue mane walked up, a challenging look in her eyes. I pointed a hoof at her. “Are you going to be the first challenger my fine lady?” “I’ll play your game,” She said. “That’ll be five bits,” I said. She slid the money over without any trouble. I slipped the rock underneath one of the cups, and using my magic, I grabbed slid the cups around in my telekinesis. The mare watched carefully, but her focus was going to be her downfall. When I stopped I gave her a friendly look. “You get one chance. So pick wisely my dear.” She chose the middle one, and I lifted up the cup. There was nothing beneath it. “Oh I’m so sorry, it looks like you lost. Don’t fret though, you can always try again.” “Hmm,” She said. “Alright.” The second time I let her win, the crowd all looked more hopeful after that. On went the game, with me losing every third or fourth time on purpose as to make the crowd all assume that the game was indeed fair. After a half hour of this I had nearly fifty bits in my wallet. That was enough for a train ticket. Not enough for food though. “I’ll give it a shot,” Said a yellow pegasus with a bright orange mane. Her mane was styled after an open flame, it was hard not to be impressed by it. “Alright, miss,” I said. The cups went around, but she wasn’t staring at the cups, she was staring at me. When they finally stopped, she pointed at the middle one. Her eyes didn’t leave me, even for a second. I didn’t like this. I lifted up the cup, and as luck would have it, it was empty. I opened my mouth ready to speak, but she quickly picked up the other two cups. The small crowd gasped as they saw the empty and bare table. No rock in sight. Fear ran the length of my spine and the mare simply smiled. “I’ve been watching this for awhile now. I’ve had plenty of time to see the trick behind your game. Sliding the rock off the table while it you shuffled the cups around. I’m surprised that ponies still fall for these kinds of games,” She said. “Before I take you in, allow me to ask you one question, do you have any idea who I am?” I shook my head. “I’m Spitfire, the leader of the Wonderbolts,” She said pridefully. With my magician’s hat on, Spitfire had no way of knowing that my horn had a soft purple aura around it, worse yet, that the snow on the rooftops above was all moving toward the edge. I took a few steps back into the alley, and the mare took a few steps forward. “Spitfire?” I asked nervously. “What did I do so wrong? I let the ponies here win a few games. Isn’t that good enough?” “You were cheating illegally. That’s wrong and you-“ she began saying. I didn’t let her finish as a ton of snow fell off of the rooftop, and all piled down upon her. Without any hesitation I turned and fled. It would take a few moments for the pegasus to unbury herself from the snow and if I was lucky her wings would be too cold to properly work. Thankfully, I managed to get out into a crowd where I slipped off my hat and held it low to the ground. Somehow I managed to escape that one, I guess the fates were still looking out for me. I wouldn’t be wasting any more time here though. I made my way to the train station, to freedom. Once I arrived at the train station, I paid for my ticket and had saved just enough to buy some food for the trip. It was going to take a while, but at least I could safely say that I was on my way. I laid down on the nearly empty cabin and since there were no pillows in here I improvised with my sweater. Only after I became comfortable did the train begin to move. “It’s going to get better, Trixie. It’s going to get better,” I promised myself. I didn’t believe myself for a second.