It Runs in the Family

by Rubbaduckwolf

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Tragedy
Length: 1105

Trixie has a pretty good reason for being so cruel. A sad reason, but a good one.

Twilight and Trixie have much in common that they never knew about. This is the tale of two opposite beginnings and two opposite endings.

UPDATE: I have decided to do a little revising because of some helpful comments. Thanks for the feedback, and keep it coming!

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2015-03-12 00:10:01 UTC

The Past is Important

Once upon a time, there were two sisters. No, not the two sisters that you're probably thinking about. We're not talking princess stuff here, so forget the whole sun-moon thing. Yeah, when I say two sisters, I mean Twilight Velvet and Midnight Velvet. You probably only know one of them. You see, the Velvet sisters were both Unicorns who would eventually have very skilled daughters. One of them would become more skilled than the other, admittedly. But that's not important. Here's the full scoop...

Twilight Velvet was a serious schoolmare. She would study day and night, perfecting her magic for the practical world. On the other hand, Midnight Velvet used her magic for entertainment. Her pranks and tricks were infamous (in a good way) throughout Ponyville. Despite their obvious differences, the sisters managed to live in harmony. However, as they got older, they drifted apart more and more. Twilight Velvet flourished in school, bringing pride to her parents, while the other became a dropout.

When the news of their child's bad academics reached Midnight's parents, she was punished very badly. What the punishment was, I'll leave that up to your imagination. Let's just say it was bad. Fearing the worst, she packed up her things and galloped away into the night, disappearing into the Everfree forest.

Life continued on for Twilight Velvet. When she graduated, her parents celebrated and cried tears of joy. Not a word was mentioned of Midnight Velvet. A stallion by the name of Night Light moved into town, and she was smitten. Eventually they got married, on a bright summer day with a clear blue sky. Not a word was mentioned of Midnight Velvet. Even when Twilight Velvet's and Night Light's children were born, not a word was mentioned of Midnight Velvet.

Things were different for Midnight. She hid in the Everfree forest, not daring to go back home. Occasionally, she found berries and nuts to live off of.After staying for a few weeks, she left for Baltimare. A long journey there exhausted her energy, and she fell asleep on the doorstep of an inn. When Midnight Velvet awoke, she was staring at the faces of the inn keepers, a friendly middle-aged couple. The couple took her in, and treated her just like family, introducing her to their son and inviting her to stay. The inn was warm, cozy, and everything Midnight could ever ask for. Even the walls were downright welcoming. As their son, Trick Question, had a similar interest in fun pranks and was the same age as Midnight, the two fell in deep, deep love.

One day, the inn-keepers died after an earthquake hit Baltimare. Both Midnight and Trick survived, and the news hit them hard. They barely managed to keep the inn going after their initial grief. Both tried to deny their growing love for each other, and tried to focus on the inn, but ultimately failed. Trick Question proposed to Midnight, and it was all sealed. The marriage was a quiet affair, as there wasn't much money left. After selling the inn, the newlyweds built a traveling caravan and rode off into the sunset.

The More Relevant Past is Even More Important

"What will we name her, Trick? She's got a white mane just like you and a light blue coat just like me."

"How about Trixie Lulamoon? I've been thinking about filly names for, um, quite a while."

"I think that's perfect."

Trixie Lulamoon was born six years after Midnight's and Trick's wedding. But a series of unfortunate events happened in those following months. Dragons from the southeast ransacked Baltimare. Midnight Velvet was just able to hide young Trixie in a box of top hats before she was captured and taken away. The box of top hats was knocked onto the caravan, which rolled down a hill into Horseshoe Bay. Then it was placed with the cargo and shipped to Las Pegasus.

All that time, Trixie lived off of a leak from one of the water pipes. The leak contained some sort of mineral, and was able to sustain the young filly.

When the box of top hats arrived in the harbor, a Pegasus checking the crates discovered Trixie. Spotting a name tag around the foal's neck, she took the baby to an orphanage right away. Nopony at the orphanage could find who Trixie's parents were. There she stayed and lived most of her fillyhood.

The orphanage itself wasn't so bad, it was the mood. All the parentless fillies and colts walked around emanating a feeling of dreariness and despair. Even the very food that they ate had a hopeless aura about it.

Trixie Lulamoon couldn't take it. She took one of the wizard hats that she had hidden with and escaped to Ponyville. The journey was long, and the supplies were scarce, but eventually the Unicorn made it. The town seemed full of new possibilities and hopes. It was better than Trixie could have ever imagined. But she was shy.

Afraid of being caught, Trixie stayed to the shadows. In the alleyways, she spied on groups of ponies having fun in the sunshine. Her heart ached with longing to have a family and friends. She wanted to belong.

She was very, very jealous of a few particular ponies. For instance, Applejack lived in a big, happy family all together. Rarity was looked up to by all the younger ponies, particularly those liking fashion. Rainbow Dash often came in from Cloudsdale, and was extremely popular. Fluttershy also hailed from Cloudsdale, and was well liked for her kindness. Even Pinkie Pie, who was very effervescent and bold, had friends to invite to her parties.

When a Pegasi-pulled chariot flew in from Canterlot, Trixie's envy increased. Another Unicorn, by the name of Twilight Sparkle, had arrived. Something about her just seemed familiar. And not in a good way. Trixie watched as she made friends with all the ones she had reserved the most hatred for. It just wasn't right for this upstart to immediately make friends with everypony. Nobody should succeed where the Great and Powerful Trixie had failed.

For a while, Trixie brooded over her imagined defeat. Then she made up her mind. She was going to show that Twilight Sparkle a few lessons. The time had come for a new Unicorn to be popular and famous. A much more deserving Unicorn, you could say. She saved up scraps of lumber and cloth for her costumes and caravan, eventually finishing it off with some stolen magic tricks. The Great and Powerful Trixie was ready to shine. The time was now.