When all of your accomplishments have turned to dust, even the Great and Powerful must fall. After many such failures, Trixie has reached the nadir of her life, the lowest she could possibly sink, and now there is only one option remaining.
She is going to go home to Neigh Orleans in defeat.
That is, unless her Grand-Père Presto can restore Trixie’s confidence in herself with a little magic gumbo and a whole lot of love.
Editors: Tek, Peter, Alicorn Priest
Image: Sad Trixie vector from iskyart on Derpibooru
Now on Equestria Daily
This fic is in honor of Wilbur Scoville's 151st birthday. Today we honor the man who brought the Scoville Index to thousands of people who bite into hot peppers every day and promptly attempt to find a way to extinguish that burning fire. Raise a beer to the scientists of burning fire, and the Louisiana cooks who try their best to peg the meter.
With a review by Titanium Dragon
First comment reserved for the author: The notes were done inside the document so those of you who use e-readers can see them. If you decide to make gumbo from the recipe, use plenty of chili powder and make sure to leave a comment about how it turned out. I have a hard enough time opening up cans.
Hopefully, I was subtle enough with Presto to be interesting and direct enough that everybody understands what was going on at the end. For further examples of subtlety, check out Bad Horse's blog on the topic.
(*) Contains no changelings or changeling byproducts, although equipment used during packing may have been exposed to changelings during the process. And onions. That explains the tears. Honest.
Really sweet story, I would never have guessed the twist. And a very delicious looking recipe, I must try it sometime.
Of course no Cajun would use a mirepoix in their gumbo. Mirepoix is for French based soup and stew.
6861616
Agreed. This deserve far more views.
Relating the story with a recipe reminds me to" Like Water for Chocolate"
Also, is a common fan theory Trixie is a magician from the Bayou of Neigh Orleans... it makes sense she can interact with ghosts.
This the most charming story about Trixie I have read.
Neigh Orleans, huh? if possible I could rewatch K-ville. But, Treme and AHS are theoretically still available. Not that I doubt your writing prowess, but It helps the imagination to see the hollywood version or impression to help one visualize the haussmannization if not architecture on the street.
Beautifully done, all the more so when matters became clear. A truly great and emotionally powerful story, and a wonderful tribute to Scoville. Thank you for it.
Great story; full points. The build up to the realization that Trixie's grandfather wasn't there (in the flesh) was very nice.
...I'm tempted to give that recipe a try, too.
Of course, that gave me an idea; a story involving Sunset, Trixie, and Starlight maneuvering for the position of 'Most magical unicorn'...
Roux with beer?! I must confess, I never though of that...
What kind do you use? Yeasty Belgian? Malty stout? Hoppy IPA?
(edit: Oh! I see the link you provided suggests Abita Amber. So a wheat beer then... I wonder if sweeter malt or more bitter hops would improve the flavour...)
Significant Other and I make a pretty mean gumbo If I say so myself. We make it "Dali Lama style" (one with everything) with shrimp, beef sausage, chicken okra, filé... Probably would send and real Cajun/Creole chef into apoplectic fits, but it tastes double plus wonderful!
I will post the recipe next time we make it and I write down the exact measurements (I have been cooking it so long by "feel", that I do not know the exact quantities of ingredients we use)
Wonderful story, you actually chocked me up.
I now have the image of Trixy, in the dead of night, digging a hole out in the Apple's orchard. Eventually content with its depth, she throws a heavy sack into it, before planting a sapling apple tree on top.
6862870 Trixie (mutters) Get out of that one, Twilight Sparkle. Where did I put that shovel?
6862836 Love the idea, but I'll have to give it to the wife to cook, or I'll wind up poisoning the whole family :)
6862034 The phrase 'serendipity' comes into play here. It just all came together.
6861794 Is Presto really a ghost?
6861760 Oui!
6861616 We're all going over to SIGAWESOME's house. I hope he has a big pot.
6862904
Better give us a few weeks advance warning so he can ensure we have enough home-brewed beer on tap!
I liked this, especially the cooking directions at the end. Makes me want to try it for myself...maybe one day I actually will...
6862904
On a side note: It's canon that both Rarity and her father enjoy fish / shrimp. Trixy cooks an apology dinner would be an interesting one-shot. I like the image of Rarity elbow deep into a boil.
Ooooh boy, I kinda want to try that gumbo recipe.
Too bad I am the only person in the house who can stand cajun cooking.
Also, this might be the best use of Trixie as a New Orleans pony yet.
I also read Presto's dialogue in Gambit's voice. Kinda wish there was more cajun-accent Trixie though, once she got started.
About the grandfather part of this story...
Why yes, yes I am a
. Want to make something of it?
6862904
Hmm. Now that you mention it, this is the Bayou. They traditionally have a much more understanding attitude towards zombification.
6863840
Oh. So would that make this song more appropriate, then?
Such a great story! I love the characterization, it's a take on Trixie I haven't seen before. And it makes me want to hop a plane cross country and pester my mama till she puts on a pot of gumbo.
I couldn't help but notice a fair amount of foreshadowing before the big reveal.
It was good.
This is the most touching story ever done on Trixie. Or at least the one I find the most touching. I never been a fan of Twi/Trixie or of the MLP comics, but this story still got me to cry a bit.
Great story, and a wonderful characterization of Trixie! I also love the idea of Cajun Trixie, but then I might be biased, as I'm Acadian and that would mean Trixie is a long lost cousin! She could make Gumbo and I'd make Ploys (buckwheat crêpes) to dip in molasses for dessert.
I am very impressed by your writing here, on three different levels.
You've made me connect emotionally with Trixie Lulamoon, whose appearances in the animated series leave her looking rather unsympathetic--even leaving aside questions of whether her onstage behavior is her actual personality or just a loud and bombastic stage persona, her behavior is not written in a manner that's exactly subtle. Yet you've made her feel like a real person and not a cackling comic book supervillainess, one with a family, one with motivations and regrets. This isn't easy to do.
You obviously love to cook, and you've conveyed that in the story, with enough detail that readers could try to reproduce the gumbo. Yet you do this without the technical aspects of the recipe getting in the way of the storytelling. In fact they're woven together.
And you've written Presto's Cajun accent and made it sound convincing, at least to my ear (I claim no particular familiarity with the dialect), without overdoing it or making it distracting.
The more I think about this, the more impressed I am.
On a technical note--well, I learned somewhat different techniques. Roux made in an oven is not one I'd read about and I'll have to try that.
Anyway, thanks. This was well worth reading, and I do not often say that about things I read here.
Well done. Didn't realize until her mom showed up that her grandfather was never really there. Not physically, but certainly in spirit. pats fist over heart That really hits me where I live. I had to bury my grandfather two years ago, so this really connects me to Trixie. Kudos.
I reviewed this story!
My review can be found here.
I love that I made gumbo last night, and found this this morning. Never would have thought to do roux in the oven, not something I thought I'd be learning from this site!
Otherwise an incredible story. One of the very few to actually make me really feel for the characters in it. Now, to read everything else you've written...
This was beautiful. Thank you for writing it.
Sure you can! You'll just have to visit the starswirl wing of the Canterlot Library, grab his time travel spell, modify it, and use the Special Table! Piece of cake!
I don't like gumbo. Reading this makes me think that I should try gumbo that doesn't come out of a box.
6889695 Every year, a guy from work makes gumbo for the office. It's wonderful, but quite different from this because every cook does gumbo a different way.
6883555 Think about that for a moment. You just suggested that Trixie should use a time travel spell.
6881232 You're welcome. Happy to contribute.
6875122 I think one of the reasons the characters seem so complete is that I tend to just write and let them speak on their own. If I'm not careful, they ramble, particularly late at night.
6873577 Thanks, TD!
6870554 That was my exact objective. Unseen sneaking up, but clear in hindsight.
6869573 One thing to remember when writing dislikable characters is they do not think of themselves as dislikable. They are (of course) right, because everybody else is against them, the cards are stacked, everything would have turned out perfectly if not for those kids and their darned dog, etc... I think one of my favorite comments in Diamond Tiara Buys a Little Sister paraphrased out as "You evil person you! I hate Diamond Tiara, and you made me like her! Write more!"
6867531 I love hearing about regional foods. I only wish I could get out enough to actually enjoy them :)
6865884 Delicious tears. You know, in real life, I'm not nearly so emotionally tugging. I'm actually somewhat cheerful.
6865271 If I don't foreshadow, the plot point comes out of nowhere and yanks the reader out of their warm fuzzy. If I foreshadow too much, it's not a surprise. The trick is to flavor the story with just enough shakes of the foreshadow spice box to make it taste good, but not enough to overwhelm the rest of the story. I'm still practicing.
6863840 Now *that* would have been an odd story.
6863771 I leave it up to the reader to determine the physical state of her grandfather. And the mental state of Trixie.
6863612 It would be annoying to read, I think. As it is, Presto's dialogue may be a little too cajun to understand, particularly with as many non-English speakers who read MLP. As before, it's a balancing act.
6863091 Yeah, I can see Rarity there too.
Rarity: It moved! It moved!
Trixie: They've been through boiling water, Rarity. They're quite well cooked. Besides, don't you like Prench cooking.
Rarity: (looking at the crayfish) Prench? I thought their cooking tended more to pastry and wines?
Trixie: (with a shrug) Well, if you can't recognize fine dining...
Rarity: Of course I can! Give me that knife. These prawns are going down!
6890025 Hence the
6890025 It was a truly brilliant piece, to the point I'm having trouble expressing exactly how well it spoke to me. A piece of me wants more, A sequel or something, but It might be near impossible to do this work of art justice with another story.
I personally caught a lot of the foreshadowing and figured out presto was dead Fairly early on but I'm good at that sort of thing and for It made the whole story that much more touching.
Thank you. This is one of the most touching stories that I have read in quite a while. I think my subconscious knew the twist before my conscious did, as I started tearing up only part way through.
Why you gotta make my face leak like this?
Dang it, you did it again! I swear, you could write a story about paint drying and I'd be giving a standing ovation.
But seriously though, this was beautiful. The sense of family, of mistakes made and lessons learned... of forgiveness for one's own self... all woven together wonderfully here.
On top of that, the cooking! Oh, how I miss some proper southern food since I moved to the Northwest. I mean, I don't even like seafood, but I was craving that gumbo!
6863091
I'm interested in checking out where Rarity and her father consume or even speak of eating shellfish. Got a source for that?
6995394
We see her father fishing in one episode. You have to make some pretty big mental leaps to say he doesn't plan on eating what he catches.
As for Rarity: in the episode where she gets the book of dark magic, that lets her transform things into her IDEAL, she turns a foal's cupcakes into shrimp hors d'oeuvres.
(Google image search, mlp shrimp, and you'll see the picture)
So obviously shrimp on crackers, is her idea of the perfect snack.
-on my phone, or I'd give a neater reply with links.
6995721 Ponies are evil carnivores after all! I TRIED TA WARN YEH!!!
*And soon, the all-powerful Pony armada descends upon the helpless Earth, devouring its inhabitants with gluttonous fury!*
A story wonderfully written, heartfelt and genuine; a place legitimately lived in where generations have dwelt, felt in the very dust and odor.
This is how writing was accomplished in the days before sparkly vampires.
Well. I finally got around to reading this. Good thing I've recently seen The Princess and the Frog, because otherwise I'd have very little idea what to imagine of
NewNeigh Orleans or its cookingSays the guy who just before mentioned having once threatened to cut off a pegasus' wings to turn him into a "proper earth pony"
Heh, this whole metamorphosis is so weird. First she shed the clothes, put on the straw hat, and now the accent... it's fun to imagine, though; her coming home and relaxing with the familiar home cooking.
Way to jump to conclusions, lol. She only said she got accused of stealing it
)
(okay, so she kinda technically did steal it at some point... but that was completely unintentional
No, really?
Fairly sure she can do that without even thinking about it
lol, ouch
lol. Sneaky twixie-shipping?
I doubt it. If she had her own servants she'd be embarrassed and apologetic towards them all the time
Non! You cook the gumbo, fille!
(Nope, not Cajun. I just know real French, mkay?
)
Well, maybe she aimed just a little too high there
Well, that's one way of looking at it, I guess
Oh, wow. Wonder how they found her home address. Well, they have friends in high places, I guess
He does that. Pay it no mind
Heehee.
Pfffhah.
Little break in the intimate moment for a quick corporate survey!
Oh dammit. I suspected this, back when she mentioned her trusting that he'd never go anywhere, but I wasn't sure back then.
...and that's why she "had to leave", of course.
Oh, you magnificent bastard.
Obviously.
Too bad Twilight was the one who got those wings
Well, what she's got simmering there should help. She probably made enough for four; she kinda had her grand-père on her mind when she was cooking.
Also, sausage!
6890025
Best way to write, hehe.
Funnily enough, I recently wrote a story with the exact opposite of the twist you used here; someone visiting a grave and talking with the deceased person, and then a little added scene at the end reveals that the imagined replies they got actually came from the deceased's spirit
...and up on EqD. Thanks, guys! I love you all. (when properly cooked and seasoned)
6978351 "...Dang it, you did it again! I swear, you could write a story about paint drying and I'd be giving a standing ovation..."
It's been done (and very well too, plus a reading).
I have noticed many authors portray Trixie as being from an analogue to New Orleans, is there any particular reason for that? Some line she says or what? Just curious.
7289595 I came here to ask literally the exact same question.
She's a showmare, but that's about the extent of it.
Georg, if you're reading this, what is Trixie's connection to
NewNeigh Orleans?7288680
There was a reference to that story in another story where Blueblood's talking to, (actually just thinking while being talked at) Pinkie Pie.
...was that one of yours?
I think it might've been.
Huh. Well, I didn't really see any foreshadowing for the twist, but I clued in pretty much as soon as Mirabelle stepped into the picture.
Whether or not Presto was a ghost/spirit presents vastly different interpretations. I prefer to think it was all in Trixie's head, because that means she reignited the metaphorical fire in her blood all on her own, merely needing a comfortable, familiar setting such as cooking gumbo in her family homestead, rather than needing a bit of a crutch to get through.
Lots of nice, impressive detail on the actual cooking, too. From the sounds of it, though, Trixie's family as at least moderately well-off given they have a product line that Trixie can find all across Equestria, so she really didn't want to return home until the absolute last moment, working on a rock farm and borrowing money from others before at last returning to Neigh Orleans.
Damn, that was good. I didn't see that twist coming, either. Well-done.
7499653 I think the Lunaverse set that as their Trixie's home town, and other fics kinda-sorta glommed onto it.
8423069 Oh, that's not a twist. Twilight Sparkle Lays an Egg, now that's a twist. Or On The Natural Rise and Fall of Celestial Bodies. Or Diamond Tiara Buys a Little Sister, that's pretty twisty too.
I grew up in a little town called Beaumont TX and spent a LOT of time in Louisiana, writing in a New Orleans accent is different than a Deep Cajun accent (think Swamp People, Thats Deep Cajun) You did well. I actually read most of this in a Creole accent in my head.