Long Road Home

by BlackSkulls

Chapter 03

Trixie's hoof steps slowed from a brisk trot to a walk as she entered the city limits of Tall Tale. The cobbled streets of the mini-metropolis were littered with ponies of every type going to and fro, too busy to get to their destinations than to pay any attention to the traveling magician. The sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon, and streetlamps were due to brighten the streets when the sun fully disappeared from the sky. Her eyes swept across the town as she tried to find the perfect place to stop: not too in the way, yet able to be seen easily by anyone. She finally settled on under a large tree in Tall Tale's park, stopping under it and undoing the caravan's harness.

Clara, feeling the caravan finally stop, got on her knees and crawled up to see out of the window. Her eyes widened in amazement; Ponies of every type and color, age and size, male and female were everywhere. She watched as a mare and stallion earth pony spoke on a bench. She watched two foals scurry after their mother. She watched a pegasus as he lazily floated by on a low cloud.

"Wow..." Clara muttered under her breath. Upon hearing the door creak open behind her, she looked over her shoulder at an annoyed Trixie.

She frowned, moved away from the window, and looked down at her feet. While Clara had apologized many times over the course of the day for making the unicorn angry, Trixie only seemed to ignore her. They had barely said a word over their breakfast, and immediately after set off towards the city. Half a day's trip with short breaks, and they barely made it before nightfall.

Trixie let out a sigh as she too off her cape and hat. She stole a glance at her roommate before sighing again. "Trixie is...sorry for snapping at you last night. It was...wrong of me." She turned and moved towards Clara. After a moment's hesitation, she nuzzled the girl's cheek as a sign of apology.

Clara's body stiffened at the sudden contact. Then she relaxed, her lips forming a smile as she wrapped her arms around the unicorn's neck. Trixie pulled away and nodded her head towards the chest on the other side of the room.

"I need to do some shopping. I'll be back soon. Do not let anyone see you, alright?" She floated out a pair of saddlebags with her wand cutiemark and a small bag of bits.

Her smile widened. "Yes, Miss Trixie!"

With a nod, Trixie walked right back out the door into the night. She took off in a run towards the city's small shopping district. She hoped she would make it before the stores closed.

---

Clara watched as Trixie once again left her alone. She huffed, walking around the small space, swinging her teddy bear as she paced. Two days and two nights since she had been forced into the strange world, and she was restricted to the caravan. Never being grounded, she's never had to stay in one space for too long--certainly not for several days. Clara slumped to the floor against Trixie's futon and sighed.

"I'm so bored..." She said to her bear, "I already looked at all the pictures in Miss Trixie's books. What do I do while she talks to her friends to send me home?"

Her mouth stretched into a yawn. Maybe I can talk to her about it when she comes back...

A movement at the window caught her attention and she ran up to it. Directly under the caravan's window was a cream-colored Earth pony mare with a light green mane. She skipped happily past the window, not having a care in the world. Clara watched as the mare continued on her way, towards the street, until she was out of sight. She thought the pony was beautiful. Clara found herself wishing she could interact with the many different ponies of Equestria while she could. But her thoughts returned back to what Trixie had told her the previous day.

"You must stay in the caravan at all times."

Clara sighed and and sank to the floor, holding her knees to her chest. Her head rested against her knees. All she could do was sit and stare at the door until Trixie returned.

---

"That's outrageous! You're trying to cheat me!"

Trixie slammed her front hooves on the shop counter, glaring at the gruff-looking stallion before her. Between the two of them was a variety of items: a canteen, bread, an assortment of fruits and vegetables, and a bundle of hay. She floated her bag of bits towards him, shaking the bag in front of his face. The stallion glanced between the bag and its owner, grunting under his breath. Slowly, he started to put the items back in their respective places in the area behind him. Trixie pulled him back by the apron with her aura and stared directly into his eyes. The stallion didn't look phased by the unicorn's rough-housing.

"Look, Trixie, after what you did to my family's shop the last time you were here, you deserve to pay triple!"

Trixie simply rolled her eyes. "They mocked Trixie's show! The Ursa Minor incident was not...one of my proudest moments, but my show is top notch!"

"You turned our fruits into jumping beans! It took forever to find them all, and even longer to make sure that they were still sell-able! Do you have any idea how much product and bits we lost because of you?!"

There was an uncomfortable silence between them. Trixie's eyes glanced around the room--everywhere but directly at the stallion--before her ears folded back against her head. She let out a sigh and let him go, staring down at the counter while she spoke.

"Okay...Okay, I'm sorry I lost you business. But I really do need this stuff. I barely have enough bits to pay for it, and I still need quills and paper to write a very, very important letter to someone. You have to understand."

Trixie looked up to see the stallion staring down at her. Her shoulders were slumped, ears still folded, and all around she looked like she was genuine in her troubles. No faking sadness or looking for pity, she just looked defeated--and most of all, sorry. With a groan as he rubbed a hoof against his face, he took her bag of bits and counted out her price.

"Twenty bits." Trixie perked her head up and opened her mouth to speak, but he silenced her. "But you have to work at the shop for a couple days."

"What?! No, I can't do that! I have a hu--" She cut herself off, earning strange looks from the stallion as she coughed into her hoof. "I mean, I have a foal with me now. And I have to take her home soon. Yes, her home is very far away."

He raised a brow at her story, "A foal? That you have to take home? Why don't you just take the train?"

She hoof-waved the question away, "I don't have the bits for a train ride to her home. Besides, Trixie now has a caravan to travel with."

While the stallion didn't believe the story, he didn't know the showmare well enough to call her out on it. He thought of what she could do to pay him back as he bagged her groceries, when an idea suddenly hit him. Placing the bags onto the counter, he gave Trixie a sly grin.

"Okay. You have a 'foal' now. How about this then: You perform your little show tomorrow, a real show, and eighty percent of the bits you make, you give to me." Trixie tensed up. While she needed those bits herself, she knew that she had to repay the stallion and his family somehow. "Do we have a deal?"

Reluctantly, as she took her bags and placed them carefully into her saddlebags, Trixie muttered under her breath.

"Deal."

---

The sun's rays shined through the small window and onto Clara's face, waking her from her sleep. She didn't remember talking to Trixie when she returned, and she guessed she had fallen asleep while waiting. She mumbled under her breath and sat up, her hair a frizzy mess from not braiding up her hair the previous night. Taking a quick look around for any sign of Trixie, she picked up the discarded brush to fix her hair. As Clara sat in front of the mirror and brushed her hair, she heard a commotion nearby. She pushed herself off the floor and stumbled towards the window, covering up a yawn. Just on the edge of the window's line of sight were several ponies facing in one direction where Clara couldn't see. She pressed her ear against the glass to try and hear what was going on.

She heard Trixie's voice in the distance. "You, ponies of Tall Tale, have seen nothing yet! The Great and Powerful Trixie has many more tricks to amaze you with!"

"She seems to have really improved over the past year."

"Of course, there's only up when you're at the bottom."

The ponies just under the caravan's window laughed at Trixie's expense. Clara felt her stomach drop to the floor as she continued to listen to their mean-spirited conversation. The ponies laughed at her, made fun of her, and continued to refer to something about an 'Ursa Minor' and 'Twilight Sparkle'. While Clara didn't know what Trixie had done in the past, she knew Trixie now, and to her the unicorn had only been sweet--though strict. She wanted to throw open the door and tell the mean ponies to stop picking on the showmare, but she didn't want to risk getting Trixie in trouble with anyone.

Over the course of what Clara guessed to be forty-five minutes, she listened to Trixie boast about her magic, various sounds like whistles and poppers, and ponies talking about her; both in awe and in scorn. The crowd, as far as Clara could tell, dispersed, but Trixie still didn't return. Several minutes later, she heard voices getting closer to the caravan, and she ducked down from the window to avoid being seen.

"I have to say, Trixie, that was quite a show. Something like that must have gotten you a lot of bits." A male voice said. Clara could almost hear the grin in it.

"Yeah, whatever." She heard Trixie grumble bitterly. There was a sound like jingling of several coins in a bag that followed, "Trixie counted seventy-five bits in total. Here is your eighty-percent. And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take my fifteen bits and return to my caravan."

There was a chuckle, and then the sound of heavy steps walking further away. A moment later, Trixie opened the door to the caravan. She glanced at Clara, sitting under the window and quickly gave her a big, cocky smile.

"Oh, did you hear Trixie's amazing performance? It was quite the spectacle!"

Clara bit her lip, not wanting to tell the unicorn what she overheard. Instead, she brought up another topic. "Miss Trixie, I get bored when you go out. Is there anything I can do while you're out?"

Trixie stared at the girl, and then brought a hoof up to her chin as she thought. She never considered that the girl would ever get bored, and she certainly didn't want her wandering around when she couldn't keep an eye on her. Noticing that Clara was staring at her, waiting for an answer, she giggled nervously.

"Well, Clara...just what do you like to do? Reading? Playing with toys?" She motioned to the small bear that was laying on the floor next to her.

"I like to draw. Mommy says my drawings are really pretty!" She grinned, hoping that Trixie would get her something to draw with. Her hopes where dashed when she saw the unicorn's uncertainty.

"Oh I don't know... I'll... I'll see what I can do, alright?"

Clara nodded and gave a reassuring smile. Trixie returned the smile and turned her back to the girl. Two apples floated in the air, one levitating towards Clara. Her eyes widened. She was going to eat something other than bread and berries! She happily grabbed the apple from the air and took a bite. She smiled as she ate the fruit, looking to Trixie who was eating the other apple.

"It's past noon, you had been asleep all morning. I figured you were hungry. But after this I need to go out and buy a few more things. I'll also contact my...friend...about sending you home, alright?"

Clara nodded, and another apple was handed to her. She dropped the core into her lap, taking a bite out of the second. Trixie fidgeted in the silence, wondering what to say.

"So, Clara..." She trailed off, wondering what exactly to ask, "Why don't you tell me about yourself? We will be together for a while, after all."

Clara swallowed her apple before answering. "Well, I'm seven years old. I live with my mommy, and I go to visit my daddy every other weekend. I love my parents very much. I also have a dog, Pepper! She's a big, big dog but she's so sweet and..." She frowned and stared at her half-eaten apple, "I miss my family very much...and my friends...and my school..." Tears welled up in her eyes and she let out a sniffle, covering her eyes with her arm.

Trixie felt like she had been kicked in the stomach. Seeing the girl cry made her feel bad, even moreso knowing that her question was what caused it. Slowly, she walked over to Clara and put a hoof on her shoulder. Clara looked up, and she gave her a small smile.

"Don't worry Clara, I'll make sure you get home."

---

Trixie walked inside Tall Tale's post office, more determined than ever. She pulled out a scroll from her saddlebags, rereading it as she stood in line.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I know the two of us ended on good terms, and I thank you for that. And perhaps you feel like that you shouldn't do anything for me, after all that I've done to you, your friends, and the citizens of Ponyville, but I really need this favor.

You see, it's a long story, but... I have a girl with me. But she's not a pony. She says she's a human. Just appeared in my caravan one night, and she says she can't return "home", wherever that is. This is where I need your help, Twilight. If anyone has the magical powers--besides Princess Celestia and Princess Luna--that can do this, it's you. Please, Twilight, I would like to send her home.

If you need me to do anything, just tell me and I will. I am staying in Tall Tale, and I will wait here until I receive a correspondence from you. Since she is not a pony, and I don't have a ton of bits, we will be traveling by hoof towards Ponyville once you respond and we work out a plan.

I hope you are able to get this soon, the girl really doesn't belong here. She needs to go home.

Signed,

The Great and Powerful Trixie

Once she was next in line, she placed the scroll on the counter. She paid the necessary bits for an emergency delivery, and watched as the mail mare put it in a separate pile from the normal letters. Trixie left the post office, feeling the pressure of a sketchbook and a box of crayons against her sides in her saddlebags.

Comments

[BlackSkulls]

Wow! So many people are liking it so far. I'd love to hear any thoughts anyone might have!

[Hopefullygoodgrammar]

This is really good, keep up the good work

[Disco Knight]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfApBz4_XQk&feature=kp

My first thought, upon seeing the title.