#his dad was always absent in his life but even moreso after his mom passed

[dalvs-wife]

i have thoughts about dalv's parents if you even care............

[passionpluto]

Rumors (IYGALL Future Side Story)

(This is a bit more of a Lopoddity-style short story that would go with a picture if I could draw decent enough. Not quite a oneshot, but a bit of IYGALL angst I’ve been wanting to write for awhile.)

Life in the Pommel house was equal parts complicated and beautiful. From what little Trailblazer knew of his complex living situation, he and his older sisters had two different mothers, three different fathers, and yet somehow shared one home. To Trailblazer, this was the way all families operated. Somepony would find themselves in a bind or leave this world, and somepony else would come to take their slack. Coco and Cameo were everypony’s moms, and Scene was everypony’s dad. They all lived together as if they were all they had, and never mentioned their past parents once.

Trailblazer had always assumed that his oldest sister Bambi’s father had died just as the other lost father of the family had. But all it took was one short visit, and an absolute whirlwind of a night, to disprove that.

****

Every month or so, Bambi would don her best clothes and go out for what she claimed was her “spying game.” Trailblazer had always begged to go with her on one of these investigative journalism adventures of hers, but she’d always said the same thing—it was just too dangerous for a colt like him. But the more she pursued this issue, the more he lay in wait, and one month, he finally worked up the courage to follow her to her secret spot.

When he trotted into the lavish mansion that looked more like a castle than anything he’d ever seen, his ears perked up. Nothing about this place seemed like the sorts of shady areas Bambi wrote recurring columns about. In fact, everything about it seemed glistening, and beautiful, and safe. Ponies danced around an ornate stage like ballerinas inside music boxes, and for a moment, Trailblazer felt as though he was transported straight into a storybook. He was only eight at the time, but he’d already spent enough time watching the dancers from his parents’ Bridleway performances and taking lessons of his own that he was sure he could blend in.

And, for a short while, he did. For just those passing moments, he felt himself swept away in the sort of world foals could only dream of. But when a group of strangely threatening rich ponies spotted him, he could already feel the dream ending before his very eyes.

“You’re lucky to have your mother’s eyes, you know,” one of them said to him, as though she was simply discussing a mundane bit of gossip. “You look so much like her that nopony would ever suspect a thing. If you had just a bit more of your father in you, we would have to run you out of town, and that wouldn’t bear well for us, would it?”

With a sinking feeling, Trailblazer realized exactly why Bambi kept sneaking out here in the first place—whoever these ponies were, they had some sort of bone to pick with his father. He had absolutely no idea what he’d done to deserve such anger, but he sure as Tartarus wasn’t about to stand for it.

The others simply laughed in his face and told him that everything he had ever known had been wrong. His father wasn’t Scene Stealer, Bridleway’s most famous director. He and Bambi had the same father, and that was when it all clicked. Scene had taken him in just like he’d taken Babs in after her father died. But even that spot of hope faded in a few fleeting moments.

“Oh, he’s alive, but we spend every moment of every day wishing he was dead. That’s the kind of trash your real father is. Such a disgrace that not even your own mother will admit to being with him. So what makes you think we’ll accept his son?”

“Y-You accepted Bambi, didn’t you?” he croaked. “What makes me any different?”

“Back then, we didn’t know any better, and now we do. There’s nothing a son of Mosely Orange can do for our family, except ruin it. Remember that the next time you dare to show your face here, or we’ll make you.”

And then, like a stroke of lightning, the group left, returning to their regular idle rich performances. By the time they looked back towards where the colt had been, he had already ran crying into the night.

****

By the time he came back, the house—or whatever passed for one in their tight little corner of Manehattan—was almost completely deserted. While Trailblazer wasn’t quite mad at Scene for not revealing the truth—he was old enough to know that sometimes lies were needed to avoid a painful truth—he was nonetheless relieved to see that the pony he had called father was absent. He was just about to go straight to his room so he could keep it in the dark for as long as he feasibly could when his sister Babs confronted him.

“Seriously, where were you?” she said, more concerned than angry.

“At the Orange place. I followed Bambi there.”

Babs shook her head in mild disappointment before turning her glance to her brother and the tears dappling his cheeks.

“Figures. They ain’t as bad as they used to be, but I swear they’re still some of the nastiest sonsofbitches this side of Manehattan. And you know that’s sayin’ a lot!”

Trailblazer chuckled a little at hearing this, remembering the stories his parents told about how you could practically make a life savings out of all the times Babs put bits in the swear jar when she was young. These days, there wasn’t too much to be done about it, since she was a full-grown working pony with a marefriend and an education. But even then, she still stayed, supposedly because she hadn’t had a real family for so long, probably because she liked having a younger brother to tease, and definitely because she loved that brother more than her street cred let her show.

“I’d say you shouldn’t go back there, but I don’t think ya need to be told twice. They say they like to steal away foals who spy on them one too many times.”

Trailblazer expected to see the same teasing glint in his sister’s eyes that she often had when she was telling him these sorts of stories, but something about it felt...hollow. Almost as if she was every bit as scared of the possibility, or possibly even moreso.

“Um, actually, can we talk about something?” Trailblazer hesitantly piped in. When Babs nodded, he continued, “I saw some ponies who told me not to come back. ‘Cause my dad’s not who I think he is, or somethin’. They said Scene’s not—“

The fear Babs had before had morphed into something else entirely now, something that Trailblazer couldn’t quite put his hoof on. Something about it felt more pained somehow in a way he couldn’t describe. For the slightest of moments, she stayed the sassy, confident mare he’d always known, but for the first time in his life, he saw that side of her turn off.

“If they told you what I think they did, I’ll kick their ass! All of theirs! Just like I did years ago! They...they really haven’t changed.”

With a note of hesitation, she whispered, “That’s why I don’t go to any of their things. They fed me the same crap about my pops and tried to lure me back in when I was useful to them. Except I got the feelin’ that what they told you was wrong on top of that.”

Trailblazer just couldn’t understand this whole obsession with fathers, as if family could be graded like students could. Most of it went over his head, but he still got the feeling that his idea of a good dad was way different than theirs.

“All they said was that my dad hurt them real bad. And I think they blame me.”

“First of all, that ain’t right. The stallion who hurt the Oranges more than anything didn’t have anypony to blame but himself. He ain’t somepony I like to talk about, even now, but he was a flankhole, pure and simple. But more importantly, he ain’t your pops, Blaze.”

“But they said—“

“Look at this logically for a sec. You’re the brightest blue unicorn I’ve ever seen, and that’s all Scene. You’re always willing to help anypony who needs it. You’re actually willin’ to take on your dreams, and you don’t care what anypony else thinks of ‘em. You don’t have a drop of him in you. Just another stupid rumor, okay?”

In his short life, Trailblazer had already become quite acquainted with rumors. It was only natural for the son of two showponies. But he also knew that sometimes, against all logic, they could still be true.

“So Mosely isn’t my father?”

Babs recoiled in response and gave her brother a horrified glance that said a thousand words.

“Don’t ever say those words together again,” she told him. “They’re true, sure, but I don’t even like thinkin’ about what it’d be like if it wasn’t. But if you want real proof that you could never be his son...Mosely was in love with our mama. He even proposed to her, but she still turned him down. She hated everythin’ he stood for, and the way he hurt me. When she had to choose between me and Mosely, she saved my life. She’d never back down from that, not in a thousand years. That’s the real reason I hate that rumor, you know. She’s the last pony who’d betray you for a stallion.”

Trailblazer nodded in understanding, filled with admiration for his parents mixed with something else. Pity for his sister, for what little he knew of what she had gone through. For the first time in his life, he recognized that Babs may not have always been given the same love he’d taken for granted.

But by the time he worked up the courage to ask her, all she had said was, “Maybe someday. When you’re older.”

Trailblazer had the distinct feeling that really meant “when I’m strong enough to tell you.”

Some additional notes:

—Trailblazer’s birth came with many complications and was a close call for both the colt and his mother. Coco received the worst of it and had to be hospitalized for awhile before coming back home. Trailblazer himself healed fairly quickly, but will never quite have the magic level of an ordinary unicorn.

—Specifically, his magic lacks any offensive capabilities whatsoever—his lasers are all light, no fire. They go right through ponies. Unlike my fanon for Scootaloo’s parents, though, his family really doesn’t see a problem with it and treats him with love and care. (As a director, Scene even hopes he goes into light/sound work someday.)

—Trailblazer eventually becomes a dancer who blends light into his shows in a variety of ways, from basic strobe lights to creating shadow puppet-like objects with them. To his delight, he can also perform basic enchantments on his clothes so they can light up during his shows.

—As a fellow unicorn performer with her own magic issues, I like to think Trixie acts as a mentor figure to Trailblazer in his early days.

—Basically, Trailblazer is a sweet, sensitive colt who lives with a pack of tough, tomboyish sisters who he admires immensely.

[musedbyalli]

“I think they top most families.  Still they are super dysfunctional too.”  Though that was obvious by the lack of normal coping skills.  The boys tried but they struggled.  It was getting better though.  Ray was so proud of them.  She was proud of Tohru too!  she was growing so much.

A little smile came from her.  She wasn’t the only one that had that thought.  Still Ray saw the best in him.  There was something about him.  he cared in his own way.  Not that it gave him a free pass.  There was a lot she didn’t know.  Not that it mattered.  “I think he is a good person but there is something there.”  She couldn’t put her finger on what either.  being close seemed to blind her a bit to it.  She couldn’t help it.  She respected Shigure and went to him a lot with her silly troubles.  he always tried to be there.  Moreso than any other adult she had dealt with.

“I only say it cause it’s true.”  Uo was really amazing.  She had that edgy vibe but she was a good person.  It showed in everything she did.  “Thanks, maybe.  who know.  I just wanna be happy.”  she didn’t think much else about it.  For now she was happy with the friends they had and it was more than enough.

She could see that.  the girl was a natural.  She seemed to make everyone around her better.  She adored her so much.  She hoped to be the same one day.  She was a bit more emotional unlike Tohru who managed to be positive with everything.  She looked up to all their friends for one reason or another.  “Eventually she is gonna be a real mom and have the cutest kids.  Too bad Kyoko won’t be around to be the cool grandma but she is watching over her now.”

“I dunno.  I think both are good.  I suppose it is about what she wants.  Though they aren’t the only ones who adore her.”  everyone seemed to fall for her.  She just had that personality.  She couldn’t blame any of them.  if it weren’t for her strong feelings for Kyo, she probably would have had a crush on tohru too!  However she knew who she wanted.  Even if she would never have that because his feelings were for Tohru.  Such was life.  

“Yeah.  I thought my family was dysfunctional, but I don’t think there’s much competition.”  Sure, her mother was absent and out of the picture because she chose to abandon her family for the guy she was having an affair with.  Plus, her dad was an alcoholic who seemed to forget that he was the adult most of the time.  Still, things in the Sohma family just seemed darker and Arisa didn’t even know most of the details.  “I think they’ve made progress though.  They seem much more different at school than they used to be.  More open in a way...”

Uo sighed, “It’s odd.  Even Hana can’t place her finger on it...  Maybe that’s just what happens when you come from that kind of dysfunctional family and don’t have someone like Tohru to support you.”  Kind of like how Kyoko and Tohru had saved her from a horrible path.  “I don’t see him doing anything bad though.  Kinda like how I don’t see Kyo or the Prince purposely doing anythin’ to hurt anyone.”

“I have faith that all of us are gonna end up happy.”  Everyone in their friend group had been through enough bad things to deserve something good.  If not then Uo was definitely going to doubt karma.  

Arisa laughed, “Definitely!  Can ya imagine lil mini Tohru’s running around?”  Those’ll be some clumsy kids if they took after their mother.  “It really is too bad that Kyoko won’t be able to see them.  She’d adore them and spoil ‘em like crazy~”  But, Uo would do her best to help carry on Kyoko’s legacy.  

“True.  I’m glad that she does have options.”  Of course, Tohru was absolutely oblivious to the fact that she had choices.  Or just how easy it seemed to be to draw people to her.  It really was no wonder that those fan club girls got so jealous of her.  “It’s kinda funny how she has the most options when she seems the most oblivious to love.”  Of course, Arisa wasn’t much better when it came to noticing if someone wanted a relationship.  She had a bit of a tendency to scare others away.  “Do ya think we’re as oblivious in love as she is?”