Chapter 88
The tower was a place of miraculous wonder for Sumac, who adored seeing his mother’s foalhood home. There were no stairs to be found anywhere; unicorns were expected to wink from one place to another. For those who couldn’t wink, like many of the servants, there were magical rugs placed beneath holes in the ceiling that would shoot a pony upwards in a powerful whoosh of air, which Sumac didn’t like at all. Getting down required leaping through the hole in the floor and hoping that the rug would catch you.
The tower was also enormous on the inside, far, far larger than it should be. For Sumac, it was overwhelming. His magic sense was so overburdened that he had trouble focusing on anything and everything around him. Having grown up in a wagon, it was quite a shock to see how well off unicorns lived, and he concluded that Twilight had to have been well off because none of this seemed new to her, or her parents for that matter.
He wished that Pebble was here with him, but he knew that she would freak out while travelling from floor to floor, Sumac had no idea just how many floors there were. While she might not like the gust of the air lift system, Sumac knew that there were plenty of things here that she would love. The little colt figured out almost right away that with his above average magical ability, all of this wonder was available to him, should he want it. His eyes had been opened to an entirely new world, something that he hadn’t even known about it existing. He had traveled all over Equestria, but he had never seen anything quite like this.
Sumac was suddenly very curious about Twilight’s upbringing in Canterlot. And Twinkleshine. Astonished, filled with wonder, the little colt had awakened to his culture as a unicorn, and he was dying to know more. He needed to know more. Most peculiar of all, he was already starting to feel at home here in this place, even as the shock of seeing it for the first time lingered.
“Welcome to my humble home,” Dandelia said to everypony. “We lost most of our fortune after the civil war, and what little we have left, well, Caper was very, very insistent that the ponies living in our demesne are well cared for and looked after. Caper, for all of his faults, was a decent pony who believed that the poorest residents of a fiefdom said the most about it.”
This was poor? Sumac looked around him, focusing upon each clock, the silver and gold candlesticks, the paintings on the wall, the furniture, this was wealth beyond measure. His magic sense, the fickle thing it was though, detected many repair spells on the furniture. After learning from Big Mac just how bad off the old wagon had been, Sumac had trained himself to observe such things. Already, the little colt was noticing that things weren’t quite what they seemed in this place.
Looking subdued, her ears drooping, Dandelia tried to smile but failed. A sour scowl spread over her muzzle and she shook her head. “Caper was a tyrant, but a benevolent one, at least to the ponies living in his demesne. To his own family though…”
As Dandelia’s words trailed off, Trixie picked up what her mother was saying. “He treated his family worse than dirt. The Pathetic and Worthless Trixie has come home.”
Angry, Sumac kicked his mother in the leg, right in the bony spot just above the fetlock. “Don’t say that!”
“Ow!” Trixie sidestepped away from the colt beside her and looked down with shocked dismay. “That hurt! A gentle kick isn’t so bad, but that one had oomph to it!” She rubbed her sore leg with another not-sore leg.
“Sorry.” Sumac’s ears drooped and he assumed a more apologetic posture. “Just… don’t say that, okay? I don’t like it. It makes me angry and I don’t want to have a temper tantrum. Octavia says that I need to blow off steam before it builds up into an explosion.” Sullen, feeling guilty, Sumac dropped his head and stared at the fantastic designs woven into the carpet.
Letting out a shrill squeak, Sumac felt himself being snatched up into a fierce hug. Trixie was sitting down on the floor with him and squeezing the life out of him while rubbing her cheek against his neck. He resisted for a short time, but knew the situation to be hopeless, so he went limp and just allowed it to happen, even though there were far too many ponies watching.
The hug, however pleasant, became rather awkward when Trixie’s mother, Dandelia joined in. Sumac felt Trixie go stiff, rigid, and she became unmoving. He found himself sandwiched between them, and he worried for his mother, as she didn’t seem to be taking this well. His fear and apprehension caused him to tense up and go stiff as well.
“I named you ‘Beatrix’ because in the old tongue, it means ‘she who makes happy.’ You made me happy. I loved you so much… you were so very dear to me and I’m so sorry that things turned out the way they did.” Dandelia’s voice cracked several times as she spoke. “I hope that, in time, you will forgive me.”
Almost as if the other ponies in the room around them didn’t exist, Trixie asked, “What made Caper change his mind?”
“All Caper cared about was good breeding and bloodlines,” Dandelia murmured in a soft, difficult to hear voice. “He found out who your father was, but I don’t know for certain if that is what caused his change of heart. He developed a keen interest in you as he approached his end.”
With a rough shove of her hoof, Trixie sent her mother flying away and Dandelia tumbled over onto her back, landing in an undignified heap with her legs askew. Grabbing Sumac in one foreleg, Trixie rose and began to back away on three legs, retreating to where Lemon Hearts stood. Her lip curled back into a snarl and with her teeth bared, she shouted, “Liar! You were always such a liar! I learned a truth detection spell! And when that failed, I learned how to cast non-detection spells and I knew that you were shielding yourself from my magic! And I knew that you were lying, because you had something to hide! YOU’VE KNOWN WHO MY FATHER WAS ALL ALONG!”
Trixie’s horn flared and a bolt of searing energy shot through the room. As fast as it was, Twilight was somehow faster. With a flicker of magic, she nullified Trixie’s incendiary bolt and turned it into a harmless shower of sparks. She strode away from her parents and moved between Trixie and her mother, where she struck a commanding pose, her head held high.
“Trixie, please, as your friend, I’m begging you not to do anything foolish… that spell might’ve been fatal. Do you really want Sumac to watch you maim or even kill your own mother?” Twilight took a step towards Trixie and held out her hoof. “I know you’re hurting, and I know this is hard, but whatever it was that she and Caper did to you, it isn’t worth throwing your own life away. Think of Sumac and what he means to you.”
“I am!” Trixie shrieked. “I am thinking of Sumac! I don’t want her getting her hooks into him and manipulating him with her sob stories and tales of woe! I am protecting him from her LIES!”
Getting up on her hooves, Dandelia let out a moan and then said, “I deserved that, and yes, I lied. I had a secret to protect.”
Eyes glittering, Princess Luna stood near a tall water clock in total silence.
“Whatever there is to be had here, I’m not sure it’s worth it.” Lemon Hearts pressed up against Trixie’s side. “Trixie, love, if you want to go, you just say the word and we’ll make it happen somehow.”
“Such is the cost of secrets and treachery.” Having finally said something, Princess Luna’s eyes narrowed and she continued to study events as they unfolded. “Dandelia, distant daughter of mine, We do believe that you have been using magic to keep Us out of your dreaming mind. How come We do not yet know these terrible secrets?”
Vindicated, Trixie let out a crow of triumph with one shouted word, “LIAR!”
Night Light, moving forward to stand with his daughter, Twilight, shook his head and looked sad as he came to a stop beside her. “I don’t think this will wait for tea or even a table. Dandelia, this needs to come out now, because if you don’t, I will.”
“Nighty, darling, you have a terrible temper when you are emotional.” Twilight Velvet approached her husband, looking concerned. “That vein in your forehead is already standing out, and your eyes are bloodshot. I can be objective through this crisis.”
Looking at Twilight Velvet, Sumac saw an awful lot of Twilight Sparkle.
Retreating to a couch, Dandelia sat down, conjured up a hanky, and then began to wipe her face as the tears she could no longer hold in began to fall. She blinked a few times, her eyes, having turned a bright crimson with her mood, were also glassy with pain and tears. She gestured at Twilight Velvet with her hoof, closed her eyes, and waited for the worst to happen.
“Dandelia was my friend in school,” Twilight Velvet began. “Almost from day one. She knew my secrets. She was my roommate. When we were homesick and lonesome, we slept in the same bed together. We were fast friends.”
Twilight, her head turning with a mechanical slowness, stared at her mother with wide eyes as her mother continued speaking.
“Night Light was also my best friend, and the three of us made for a wonderful trio. We were inseparable. We grew up together. Dandelia knew that I was in love with Nighty even before I realised it. She developed faster than I did. When the three of us reached a certain age, we did things. We experimented a bit, but it was innocent.”
With a pained expression, Night Light turned to look at Dandelia, who had her eyes closed and was crying into her hanky. Saying nothing, he moved over to where she was and sat down beside her, while Twilight stood there in shock.
“Dandelia figured out that she was asexual pretty early on,” Twilight Velvet said in a low voice that bubbled with phlegm and emotion. “It was quite a shock to her, as she had a responsibility to produce heirs for the Lulamoon lineage. It broke her… she tried to kill herself… she drank poison. Night Light found her and due to his quick thinking and knowledge of alchemy, he made an antidote and then forced her to drink it. He put it down her nose and she was pretty upset with him for a while. We didn’t tell anypony, and this was the first of our many lies.” Twilight Velvet hung her head as a tear rolled down her cheek and splashed onto the floor.
“Princess Celestia suspected that something had happened,” Night Light explained, “but we assured her that everything was fine. We lied to her face.”
Sumac, clinging to his mother’s leg, sat there in stunned silence.
“Then Dandelia found out that Caper was petitioning for an arranged marriage.” Twilight Velvet shook her head and her ears drooped. “That caused suicide attempt number two. There would be more, later, and each time it was either me or Nighty who saved Dandelia.”
“We took turns keeping watch over her,” Night Light added.
Twilight Sparkle sat down with a muffled “WHUMP!”
“The lies certainly got easier with time,” Twilight Velvet admitted. “For all of us. Eventually, I came up with a plan. I traveled to Ponyville, went to a farming supply depot, and bought an inseminator kit for livestock. I brought it back to Canterlot and sprung my idea on Dandelia. Much to my surprise, she was open to it. It… it… it made her happy. She was relieved more than anything.” Stammering a bit, Twilight Velvet began to snuffle.
Reaching out, Night Light pulled Dandelia into a warm, loving embrace as she wept.
“The three of us snuck off together and as a group, we made a pact. We decided that some lies had to be told for the greater good, so that Dandelia could be happy. We were young and idealistic, so this seemed like a good idea. After making our pact, We uh, gathered the material we needed for the insemination kit and we all made a conscious decision that we were doing the right thing. The first attempt didn’t work, neither did the second, and that old saying about the third time being the charm, that’s not true at all. Night Light had to work a little alchemy and on the fifth attempt, we were successful. We found out after a few weeks.”
Twilight Sparkle, too stunned to respond in any other way, let out a whimper.
Her mother, Twilight Velvet, continued with her confession. “We were happy. We were having a foal together. We felt good about it, and Dandelia’s suicidal impulses just vanished. She was the happiest that she had been in years. We had to prepare though, and that meant breaking into the advanced magical section in the library. We had to learn advanced spells to protect our secret. One does not just fool a pony like Caper, he was practically an alicorn in the body of a unicorn. Caper was capable of lighting up the stars and we three thought that we could outsmart him.”
“He found us out though, it seems,” Night Light remarked as he held Dandelia.
Blinking, Twilight Velvet shook her head as more tears fell. “We worked on a very convincing story with Dandelia, we rehearsed the conversations, we practiced the magic on one another, we spent weeks on preparations so that she could tell her father that she had done a little experimenting in school with a few colts and that she didn’t know who the father was.”
“We thought that we had everything figured out.” Night Light sighed and the corners of his mouth sagged. “Looking back on it, we were pretty stupid. Everything went wrong. Caper was furious that Dandelia was having a foal out of wedlock… he was supposed to be happy that he had an heir, but that was not the case.”
“And Trixie suffered.” Twilight Velvet, with a heartbroken expression, looked into Trixie’s eyes. “We wanted to tell you. So many times, we wanted to tell you. We plotted and we planned and we tried to do what we could for you. I never stopped worrying about you… sometimes, it feels like I’m your mother too, as I was there and helped make you. We loved each other so much and you came about because of that.”
“We became the very ponies that we are today because of how much we plotted and planned just to make sure that Dandelia was happy. Everything we did was for friendship. We didn’t know it would go this far, or this wrong, and for that, we’re sorry.” Night Light bowed his head, closed his eyes, and squeezed Dandelia.
“I don’t know what to say,” Trixie whispered.
Twilight, whirling about as her wings shot out from her sides, launched herself at Trixie to tackle the unsuspecting mare. “I have a sister!” Twilight shouted as she careened through the air. “All this time, we’ve been sisters! It was sibling rivalry that made us fight!”
A second later, a rambunctious over-excited alicorn slammed into her sibling and laid her flat…
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Oh, and ponies are genetically predisposed towards Sibling Rivalry. You don't have to know you are siblings, it just happens!
7736856
And me without a phone meme. Shoulda called it collect!
Trixie Sparklemoon? Moonsparkle?
...can I still want to kick Dandelia out the nearest window?
Well that explains why Trixie and Twilight kept having duels sibling rivalry
Well, Twilight is taking it well at least. Trixie likely is going to be in shock for a while if she doesn't have broken bones from being tackled by an alicorn (and all the weight that comes from being an alicorn).
7737388
Trixie was still holding Sumac...
what a twist
Knew it.
7737422
Nope.
He is not related to Trixie by blood.
Half sisters? I approve of this reveal.
I am... not sure if Trixie will come around so easily.
7737392
He's young and living better than he used to. He'll be fine... plus if he does get seriously hurt, Pebble can take care of him dressed as an adorable nurse.
7737437
Meh, if Blood Magic is a thing, that can be fixed, plus he is a member of the Apple Family anyway. So he is descended from Celestia making him Royalty regardless.
7737484
Eh, not exactly.
Lots of ponies are related to Celestia directly and indirectly. Not all of her offspring are given titles. Some never do anything to distinguish themselves. Many are content to be wainwrights, for some reason. They like wheels.
Wait...so...Celestia is sumac's Grandmother on the Apple side, and Luna is his Grandmother through adoption on Trixie's side who is Twilight's sister through her father making her his Aunt, also making Shining Armor his Uncle who is married to Cadence which also makes her his Aunt which makes him....
OH MY
7737509
No. Slow down.
Celestia's connection goes back centuries, almost to the point where it doesn't matter.
The more interesting thing to think about is the fact that Twilight and Trixie are both half-sisters and cousins, as revealed in The Perilous Romance of Swans. The stars aided in Luna's escape.
7737515 sisters I see, a little confused on cousins though
Chapter 69 of The Perilous Romance of Swans, that's all I'm saying.
7737529
Have you read The Perilous Romance of Swans?
Chapter 69, just as I just posted. It will make the connection clear.
Sumac has now developed something similar to Textophobia, Not the exact definition of it but it's closest officially. Could always invent one, Alladinphobia?
24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8f7u5dhfd1r2183po1_500.gif
7737533 yeah I read it, just had to reread that section, and I completely spaced that.
7737370
The Grandy Lion pun was pretty bad, I agree.
Sumac Apple Lulamoon Sparkle
I'm OK with this.
Ha! Twilight has her priorities stright. And honestly, didn't see that coming. Good job. Now to see where the hell this is going to go.
7737646 Had a feeling but was happy to wait for this one. Just waiting for a family tie to Starlight Glimmer now.
This gif all over the net makes sense now!
ponybot.net/pix/1621.gif
I'm too busy wondering how inheritance laws work and which one of them is older than the other.
God damn it.
I need a "Jumping the Shark" gif meme.
Good night everypony.
MADNESS!!!!
Although this is a series of events that I did NOT see coming...although I should have. Even more so, considering in another fanfic series, it was found out that Shining Armor got drunk and ended up getting a mare preggers, while the parents each had their own lovers on the side.
I have to say, bravo! Not only that you have left us, the readers, quite conflicted as to what we want to happen next, or where the story will go from here!
7737719 Ah the Winningverse. Were some of those rules in the Weedverse then Pebble wouldn't be worrying about her coming half-brother as much.
................... Holy shit... Dude, you just blew my mind. That was very well thought out. This alone could have been a great story as a stand alone with flashbacks. As much as I would have liked to see it as a stand alone dedicated story. I do understand why you did it like this and am very happy how this turned out thus far, but I'll be damned if I hate your cliffhangers.
11/10.
7737823 And if it were a stand-alone, the context would kinda just be crazy.
Ha HA! As soon as Night Light called Dandelion 'old friend' in the previous chapter, I knew it!
0_o
7737509
Seen the Trixie and Twilight are sisters thing before, but I think you used it very well here. Twi's reaction is perfect, concluding she and Trixie fought for a common reason is shomeing a pony like her would think, she likes everything to have reasons she can dissect
7737503
So Celestia's line likes wheels and now apparently at least one of Luna's line doesn't like wheels. Can the apparent genetic Sibling Rivalry be a bit more than just siblings?
Thank goodness that Princess Twilight isn't angry at her parents for the lies they've concealed.
7737370
Defenestration seems fitting, as a start, yeah.
I've read a lot of Trixie fics over the last few months, and I gotta say, this is the most interesting and original twist on Trixie's origin that I have ever seen.
Whelp.
Twilight now has the sister she always wanted...
7737437 But, unless I'm mistaken, he's been legally adopted, which is basically the same thing. At least when looking at inheritance and titles.
7737625 I loved that pun tho.
7737881 It would. Just keeping up with the others right now can be an issue.
7738051 A very close description of this chapter, except for the nothing part.
Because this WAS something... something amazing!!! AWESOME AND GRAND!!
LOL.
7737711 NO, NO WAY ON EQUUS!! anyway all these years and Fonz can still do it.
tieandjeans.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/shark-jump-2.gif?w=538
In all this excitement, we missed Lyra's birthday!
Trixsisparkle is best sibling relationship. Just sayin'.
You sir are a writtin genious! Please don't ever stop writting!
Night Light is Trixie's daddy-o...
Dope.