“I-I just can’t believe it,” Twilight stammered out as she stared at the bubble picture of Trixie. Everyone’s gazed was locked on to the picture of that familiar azure pony with her dark violet eyes and silver mane. “Why?” Twilight asked after a moment of silence. “Why is she on my family tree? Why is this spell showing this?”

DJ looked over at Twilight, seeing she was on the edge of either bursting into tears or flames. No doubt both, with my kind of luck, he thought to himself. He put his left arm around her neck and pulled her close to him. “Now Twilight, honey, please just calm down. We’ll figure this out.”

“Calm down? Calm down?” she asked in disbelief, turning to meet him in the eyes. “Calm. Down?! How can I be calm when a spell of my own creation is telling me that my father, my own father, had an affair?! Not only that, but it lead to the birth of a child that nearly got Ponyville destroyed twice!! How can you tell me to calm down?!”

Unbeknownst to Twilight at the time, she had subconsciously activated the Royal Canterlot Voice. In her screaming, she ended up blasting her entire family into one of the far bookcases, all of them a little delirious from the experience.

“I’m sorry?” DJ called out from underneath a pile of books. Malice, however, wasn’t so fortunate, getting his whole body, back first, stuck in the actual bookcase.

“Kid, you gotta put a muzzle on that girl more often,” he groaned from his prone position.

“T.M.I., dude!” Spike said, rubbing his sore head and try to shake off the swirling stars in his eyes. DJ grumbled slightly, pulling himself out of the book pile with a frown on his face as he glared at his brother.

“One time. That was one time. And we both agreed to never speak of it again. That goes for you too, ya chaotic prick.”

“I agreed to nothin’, harmonic douche.”

“I’m starting to need brain bleach!” cried Scootaloo, who was covering her ears. Nyx had moved to standing near the trash can, looking a tad bit green.

“Oh, please no more talk about mom and dad’s sex life,” she groaned. “I think I’m gonna ralph.”

After hearing her daughter’s calls of “distress”, she was finally able to snap back into reality and see what she had done in her quick burst of anger. She blushed fairly hard in embarrassment and let out a sheepish laugh. “Sorry everypony. I guess I let my anger get the best of me.”

DJ walked over and hug her comfortingly. “It’s alright, Twi. This would be shocking for anyone.”

“It’s just so hard to believe. I want to think it’s just a mistake in the spell matrix, but I went over it several times and, besides the self-casting mix-up, it should be working perfectly.” A few tears started to leak from her eyes. “I, I just...why? Why would my father do this?” Twilight was just on the verge of completely breaking down into sobs.

DJ leaned in and nuzzled her cheek, try to soothe her. “Shh, shh, it’s alright Twi. We’re gonna figure this out.”

“R-really?” she asked, looking him in the eyes. DJ gave her a smile, one full of compassion and understanding, just like his eyes. There were no words, there was no need for them. That smile was all she needed to know that everything would work out in the end.

“Well,” Spike began, “the only way we’ll know for sure is to go confront dad. He’s the only one who would know.”

“Spike has a point,” Nyx added. “Grandpa would be the only way we’ll ever know.”

DJ nodded. “Then it’s settled. We’ll go to Canterlot to find out the truth, straight from the source.”

“You mean, straight from the horse’s mouth?” Malice asked with a smirk. Everyone else just deadpanned at him, but his expression didn’t change. That is, not until an anvil materialized above him and crushed his head into the floor. “Oomf!”

Spike, Nyx, and Scootaloo were more than a little shocked. They looked over and saw DJ’s horn starting to power down, looking as innocent as ever. “I didn’t do that.”

Twilight giggled at her husband’s shenanigans. “That was mean, dear.”

“But funny~!”

Twilight took another look at Malice, who was struggling to pull his head out from under the anvil. She had to stifle another burst of laughter, but couldn’t rid herself of the smile. “Ok, it was a bit funny.”

“So, we got that settled, now let’s go interrogate grandpa!” Scoots said with enthusiasm.

“Oh no,” Twilight reprimanded her. “This is not something you both will be a part of. This is grown up business and you’re still too young.”

“Aw!!” the siblings whined.

“She’s right girls,” DJ added. “You’re both barely teenagers.”

“Oh come on! I get Nyx, since she’s twelve, but I’m thirteen! Two more years and I’m a legal adult!”

“Hey! Thanks for throwing me under the bus, Scoots.”

Scootaloo gave her an apologetic smile, but stood strong against her parents. “Come on! Let me come to.”

DJ only shook his head. “Sorry Scootaloo, but the answer is no. You both have school in the morning. I know you want to come and are probably very curious, but this is a delicate situation we’ve found ourselves in. It needs a discreet approach.”

Twilight blinked, looking at DJ. “Wow, that’s certainly something coming from you, dear.”

DJ gave her a proud smirk. “I have many secrets, love. You’ll know them all some day.”

“B-b-b-but!” Scoots stammered, before Twilight put a hoof to her mouth.

“That’s enough, young lady. That’s our decision and that’s final. I’m sorry, but that’s how this must be.”

Scoots let out a whine as she hung her head in defeat, sniffling a little. “Okay.”

DJ picked up there that something else was wrong. “Scoots? Scootaloo, look at me.” She did as told and looked her father in the eyes, tears building up in hers. “Scootaloo, what’s this really about?”

She sniffled a little, trying to wipe away her continuously building tears. “It’s just...I’m jealous of Nyx, okay!”

DJ blinked at the young pegasus mare. Twilight, Spike, and even Malice were a little surprised as well. But it was Nyx who was able to speak through her confusion. “Jealous of me? Why? Why would you be jealous of me?”

“Because…you got to go on an amazing adventure with dad and came back better than ever. But when he left again, he had to go alone and couldn’t take me with.” She looked back at her father, unable to stop the stream of tears. “And now you’re back, but... but... but you don’t want to spend any time with me! I know I’m adopted and you could never love me like you love Nyx, but--.”

Scootaloo was interrupted right there when DJ lunged forward and picked his daughter up in a tight embrace. “Scootaloo, never think that I don’t love you. I love you both equally; nopony is better than the other.” He pulled back to look her in the eyes, those little, tear-filled, eyes. “I am so sorry that you felt like this, Scoots. I never meant to make you feel like you weren’t loved. And after everything that happened on my travels, I’m glad you didn’t come with me. I did many things I’m not proud of and that I would never wish on a young mare like yourself. I do love you, Scoots. I always will, never ever forget that. Okay?”

Scootaloo sniffed wiping away her tears as a small smile appeared on her face. “Okay. Thanks dad.” She leaned back in, nuzzling his chest.

DJ returned the smile, still hugging her tight. After a few moments, he ended the hug and smiled down at the young mare. “Now, while we can’t take you with on this little ‘adventure’, I promise that you and I will set a day aside soon. A day for just you and me.”

Scoots immediately perked up. “You really mean it?!”

He nodded at her happiness. “Yep. You and me. We’ll do whatever you want to do.”

Happiness pouring into her, Scootaloo jumped into the air, fluttering her wings. “Yes! It’s gonna be the best day ever!! Thanks dad!”

DJ couldn’t help but chuckle at her enthusiasm. “It’s no problem, Scoots. Back on topic, though…”

“Yes,” Twilight agreed with a nod and a scowl. “Let’s get going to see my father. He has some explaining to do.” Twilight started towards the door, but DJ stopped her with a hoof. When she turned to look at him, he was shaking his head.

“Tomorrow, Twi. It’s late and we all could use some sleep after everything today. We’ll have plenty of time tomorrow to find out the truth.”

“B-but,” Twilight started, trying to protest. DJ just shook his head, saying that it was for the best. “Oh, alright. We’ll go tomorrow. But I won’t like it.”

He smiled a little bit, chuckling under his breath. Of course, dear. Now come on, let’s get some dinner.”

The next morning came all too soon for the Sparkles. It was obvious that none of them slept easily, this new information looming over all of them. Twilight was especially affected. All through the night, she tossed and turned in bed, nearly throwing DJ off more than once. After an incredible little fit, DJ finally ended up rolling off the bed. The loud thud had awoken the pregnant mare, making her look over the side of the bed and down at her husband who was tapping the floor with his hoof, looking highly unamused. She tried to apologize, but he waved off her concerns, taking a pillow and a spare blanket to the floor where he slept for the remainder of the night.

At breakfast, the family was uncharacteristically sullen. There was polite small talk every now and then, but it was a mostly quiet breakfast. Eventually, the time came for Scootaloo and Nyx to head off to school, leaving Twilight, Malice, DJ, and Spike to prepare to confront Night Light.

“Should we pack for a long stay?” asked Spike, looking through one of the closets for bags.

Twilight shook her head. “No, I just want to get the truth and then…”

DJ wrapped his arms around Twilight, bringing her in for a hug, sensing her close to breaking down again. “Hey, everything will be okay. Let’s just stay calm until then.”

She sighed and nuzzled his cheek. “Right. Just pack an overnight bag, Spike. Just in case.”

“Sure thing, Twi.”

In less than ten minutes, they were all set to leave and finally find out the truth.

“Alright, DJ,” Twilight said as she placed on her saddlebags. “Jump us to my parent’s house.”

“Huh?” he replied. “I thought we were taking the train.”

“Why would we take the train when you can get us there instantaneously?”

“But I can’t jump us there.”

There were a few seconds of pause between them all before Spike and Twilight said, “What?”

“I can only jump to places I’ve been with my powers. I need to have a jump point set and I don’t have one anywhere near your parents. I could get us to the castle again, but that’s a pretty fair distance from there. Even with wings.”

Twilight groaned out loud and started walking to the basement. “I guess we take the teleport pad then.”

Malice and DJ looked at each other then back at Twilight as they all followed her.

“The what?”

“After you two disappeared again, Twilight decided to perform some more experiments with that rune teleportation and created a much more stable form of it,” answered Spike.

Now the twins were looking at the drake with the same look of dumbfoundment.

“Twilight needed a new guinea pig and practically pounded it into me what she was doing.”

DJ and Malice both made an “O” with their mouths and nodded in understanding.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I finally cracked the runes thanks to an expert in Canterlot. And with that knowledge, I created this!” She waved her hoof over to a large machine in the back corner of the basement laboratory. It was large and cylindrical, with a large circular pad at the base with many different circles of lights in it.

“Holy shit,” commented Malice, causing Twilight to glare at him. “Dude, your wife just stole from Star Trek.”

“I love that show!” Spike said cheerily.

“I did not!” Twilight fired back. “I created this months before that show even aired for the first time!”

DJ tilted his head in confusion, then remembered that he had been gone for over a year. It was quite possible for Ponywood to have gotten to a bunch of other shows and movies that Twilight and he had shipped off to them. The majority of them would be remade with ponies instead of the original humans, but the executives over there had also chosen to keep a few of them as they were and rebrand them as sci-fi shows. DJ momentarily pondered whether or not Star Trek would have been one of them.

“This is still just a prototype,” Twilight continued, “but it should connect us to any place in Canterlot….if my calculations are correct.”

“‘If’?”

“Let the girl do her thing, Malice,” DJ chided. “We’ll go on later about this teleporter, but we have more important things to attend to.”

They all nodded in agreement as Twilight ushered them onto the main pad. She went over and typed in some numbers into the command module before joining them.

“This should place us not too far from my parents house. Hooves crossed.”

“How do you even do that?”

“Shut up, Malice.”

The lights intensified around them as the machine whirred to life. All around them, a column of blue light started to appear and swirl around them. And in a flash, they were gone.

Outside of Joe’s Donut Shop, a large flash of light appeared, revealing the three alicorns and one drake. DJ had to blink a few times to get his eyes to refocus, even shaking his head.

“Woo!” he exclaimed. “Twi, you gotta work on those lights. It may work, but you’re gonna make a pony go blind doin’ that too many times.”

She giggled at him a little. “I’ll keep that in mind. Now come on,” she started walking to the west, “my parents’ house should be this way.”

“Hop on Spike,” DJ offered, to which the drake got on excitedly.

Malice just rolled his eyes at his brother. “You really are a pack mule. No offense.” DJ was about to question that last bit before he heard from behind them,

“None taken.”

“Gah!” DJ and Spike jumped to see a lanky mule behind them, walking off with his cart. They turned to look at Malice who was grinning like a madman….which was usually normal for him. “How did you…?”

“This place is predictable,” he answered before trotting after Twilight. “I’m just playing along.”

DJ and Spike looked at him incredulously before looking at each other and shrugging.

“Wait for us,” he shouted as they ran after them.

Not long after, the four of them were standing on the doorstep to Night Light and Twilight Velvet’s home. Twilight took in a deep breath and let it out, somewhat shaking. DJ put his hoof on her shoulder and gave a small smile. She smiled back as thanks and knocked on the door.

“Just a moment!” a female voice sounded from within. A few seconds later, the door opened, revealing the light grey mare that was Twilight Velvet. “Oh my goodness! Twilight!!”  She and Twilight hugged, breaking after a moment. “Oh this a wonderful surprise!” The elder mare looked behind Twilight and gasped, seeing DJ, Malice, and Spike. “Oh my, DJ!” She hugged him too. “Welcome back! Did you enjoy your trip?”

“Let’s just say it was one I won’t soon forget,” he replied cryptically.

Velvet giggled and ruffled Spike’s spines. “And how’s my little stallion?”

“Ugh!” Spike brushed away the hoof with annoyance. “Come on! I’m nineteen for Luna’s sake!” Velvet just giggled a little more and pulled him in for a hug. He relented with a sigh and hugged back. “Hi mom.”

“That’s better.” Then her eyes fell on Malice. “And who would you be, sir?”

“A murderous jackass bent on chaotic destruction.” Malice smirked wickedly as Velvet gaped like a fish.

“Not cool, dude,” Spike and DJ said in tandem. Malice snickered wickedly, faintly reminding his brother of Muttley from Wacky Races.

“Velvet,” DJ put a hoof on her back. “This is my brother, Malice. He’s…--”

“I remember him,” she interrupted him, glaring at the grey alicorn. “Night and I were there when you ‘introduced’ him to us all.” Velvet looked at DJ with a raised eyebrow. “How is free and why did you call him brother?”

“A lot happened on my journey. One of them was getting a little closer to my darker half.”

Velvet gave a suspicious glance at Malice before entering her home. “As long as he doesn’t cause any trouble, he can come in the house.”

“No promises,” Malice muttered smugly as he followed everypony into the house.

It was your typical family home. A small entryway, decorated with a few plants and a table, with stairs leading up to the second level just off to the right. They followed Velvet down through the entryway and into the living room. Sitting on the couch was the stallion of the hour: Night Light. He was reading the morning paper, flipping through with a twitch of magic. The blue coated stallion looked up from his reading and smiled widely at everypony.

“This is certainly a surprise,” he said happily as he greeted them all. As Velvet moved to the kitchen, DJ, Twilight, and Spike took seats on the couch opposite the one Night Light sat on. Malice was content with just standing off to the side. Twilight’s mother returned a moment later with a few light snacks and some drinks. “So what brings you kids here?” Night asked as he took a sip of cider.

Twilight looked to DJ, who nodded solemnly to her. She breathed in and out deeply before looking at her father. “Dad, I know.”

Night Light looked confused. “‘Know’? You know what, sweetheart?”

“I know you had an affair,” Twilight said, finally getting it off her chest. Night Light froze, his glass dropping out of his magic and shattering on the floor. Velvet paled, looking at her husband fearfully.

Night gaped like a fish for a few moments before shakily asking, “H-how did y-you find out?”

“A family tree spell I created. It looked back through our family genetics and created a tree accordingly. Yours branched off from mom on to another mare,” Twilight explained, not meeting her father’s eyes.

“I see,” he said simply. There was dead silence in the home for a few moments before Night broke it with a deep sigh. “I suppose you would have found out one day.” He looked at his daughter with the eyes of a remorseful sinner. “Yes, I did commit an affair. Many years ago, before you were born.”

“Why?” was all Twilight could ask.

“Please understand, sweetheart, we were different ponies back then. A lot of things piled on top of each other: raising your brother, Velvet’s books weren’t selling, and my own job was at risk; this was back when I was just a pencil pusher at the observatory. Your mother and I used to fight a lot in those days. After a particularly heated argument, I left. I just couldn’t be around her anymore.” He gave Velvet a sad glance, her looking away in regret just as much.

“What happened after that?” Spike asked.

“I went to live with my personal secretary for a while. We had always been close and she offered me a room in her house. She was a sweet mare, very lively around the office. I told her everything about what happened, and…”

“Lemme guess,” Malice interceded. “Tequila was involved?”

Night Light sighed and nodded. “A few shots later and, well you know the rest.”

There was quiet again as they drank in the news.

“We both felt horrible afterwards, and of course I told Velvet everything. I felt so ashamed. Thankfully, Fantasia (that was her name) was very understanding. It was a mistake on both our parts and we tried to put it behind us. Velvet and I patched everything soon enough as things began to improve, especially after a little trip to the doctor’s told us a certain little filly was in the making.”

Twilight blushed a little out of embarrassment. “But it wasn’t the end of it, was it?” Her father blinked, knowing he had been caught. “We know you two sired a foal, dad. Why have you never spoken about her?”

A small tear grew in her father’s eyes that he wiped away. “A little while before you were born, Fantasia came to me, only a few months behind Velvet. The three of discussed what we would do. We all had reputations to uphold, so we came up with a compromise and alibis. Fantasia would pass it off as a lover who ran off after the pregnancy like a coward, which I would support in the workplace, despite the picture it painted for me. Velvet and I would continue as always, but we would do whatever we could to help our friend. Fantasia named us as the godparents, so we were present at the birth. You were too, though you were too young to remember. She gave birth to an adorable little filly.”

That was what Twilight was waiting to hear. Silently choking back her fear, she asked the all encompassing question: “W-what was her name?”

“Fantasia named her a wonderful name. Trixie, Trixie Lulamoon,” Night Light said with a small smile. Twilight felt her voice catch in her throat, the same went for Spike. DJ and Malice looked at each other with a hint of actual surprise.

“Why?” Twilight asked, her voice finally returning. “Why did you never tell me about this? Does Shining even know?”

Velvet nodded. “He does. Your brother found out about it going back through some of our files in preparation for his wedding. He confronted us just as you all have and we told him everything. And before you ask, Shining made us promise not to tell you. He didn’t think you would be able to take the news.”

Twilight felt her heart break a little bit as tears welled up in her eyes. “Wouldn’t be able to… Shiny didn’t think I could take it?”

“You have to understand he was just looking out for you, honey. With how hectic your life had been up to that point, he probably didn’t want you to have more to worry about.” Twilight couldn’t argue with that, considering it must have been after Discord’s initial breakout. “But as for the reason we didn’t tell you… because something awful happened.” The foursome leaned in, a little more interested now. “One night, a couple years later, there was an accident. The investigators said one of her stove’s fuel lines must have burst. Her entire house went up in flames. Fantasia and her child were consumed in the flames. I’m sorry Twilight. We just couldn’t bring ourselves to say anything when such tragedy happened.”

DJ. Twilight, and Spike looked at each other then back to the elder ponies. DJ was the one to speak up. “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, Night Light, what did Trixie look like?”

“She was cute little thing,” he said, remembering the memory fondly. “Light blue coat, cute little smile, and that shining silver mane of hers. I can still remember that big grin she had when we gave her her second birthday gift. Your mother and I made her a big ol’ cape and wizard’s hat. Fantasia told us little Trixie was enthralled by magic, so we thought she should look the part of a magician.”

DJ looked at Twilight, who nodded. He sighed. “Night Light, Twilight Velvet… Trixie isn’t dead.” Both of their heads shot up as their eyes widened. “I don’t know where she is, but I certainly know she is alive.”

“He’s speaking the truth,” Twilight added before her parents could attest. “A blue mare with silver hair came to Ponyville years ago as a traveling magician. She called herself The Great and Powerful Trixie. I got to speak with her later and she told me her name was Trixie Lulamoon. She’s alive.”

Night Light and Twilight Velvet stared at the children in front of them for several long moments. Tears grew in Velvet’s eyes before she began to sob openly.

“Velvet…” Night said as he embraced his wife, tears falling from his own eyes.

“...she’s alive…” Velvet choked out. “I can’t believe she’s still alive… oh, if only we had known!” Her sobs increased, leaving Night to just rock his wife, trying to keep his own emotions in check.

“We’re going to find her!” Twilight declared, standing up. “After everything that’s happened, I’m not going to give up on her.”

“What all has happened?” Night asked. “What aren’t you telling us, Twilight?”

“A fair amount of things,” she replied honestly. “But I’ll leave it up to Trixie to tell you when I find her.” Twilight got up, slowly so she didn’t cause any ill harm to her still growing child. “Come on, everypony. We need to find Trixie.”

“Uh, Twilight?” Spike said as he got up with DJ and Malice as they headed towards the door. “Not to put a damper on your plan, but how?! We don’t exactly know what happened to her.”

“Leave that to us,” Malice said. “The kid and I should be able to track her down with the Force.”

“You sure, Malice?” DJ asked, sounding uncertain.

“Sure. We met a few Trixies on our journey. We should be able to find this world’s simple as that!” Malice’s horn made snapping noise with his magic.

DJ rolled his eyes, knowing his brother had a point, but wasn’t willing to say it aloud.

Twilight turned towards her parents as they all left the house. “Don’t worry mom and dad. We’ll find her! Wish us luck!” She magically closed the door, leaving Night Light and Velvet on their own.

The husband and wife held each other close, tears escaping their eyes, silently wishing all of them the best of luck in their search.