Her entire body felt like lead. Each and every step forward took more and more effort. Finally, she surrendered and stopped her march. A glance backward revealed a large cart. A pink aura undid the straps and she was free of the cumbersome object.
With a long sigh, she looked up and around to see just where she was going to spend the night. Apparently the sun had gone down some time ago. The only source of light was a full moon shining its gentle, eerie light. The wisps of fog that were seeping out of the forest on either side of the path only served to make it even more unsettling. The fog also gave the air a thick, cool feeling, eliciting a shudder from the mare.
Spending the night in her cart on this desolate, creepy road was not something she fancied. Seemingly responding to her desires, her eye caught a sign half-covered in foliage. A quick swipe of pink magic revealed the words "EVIL GIRLS INN" neatly printed on the piece of wood.
Peering through the darkness, she could barely make out a couple of flickering lights just off the pass. She trotted just a few steps and it came into view—a rustic, dilapidated building. The two-story inn looked like it was slapped together from the surrounding trees decades ago. The only lights on were coming from the ground floor, one shining through each window on either side of the door. Despite being just off the path, the dim lights combined with the obfuscating mist had made it nearly invisible to any eyes traveling the road.
Still better than spending the night in my cart, she decided as she trotted towards the front door.
Using her pink aura, she opened the door and took a wary step in. The interior wasn't any better than the facade. It was dusty, grimy, it smelled of mildew and, even in here, there was a haze that dimmed her vision. The only source of light were several grease-stained lanterns mounted on the walls. They cast a dim, flickering light over what looked like an old-fashioned saloon. There were several tables and chairs laid out across the floor, a staircase that presumably led up to the rooms and straight in front of her was a bar with a lone unicorn giving her a bored gaze. He was leaning on the bar cleaning a glass with a rag utilizing a blue aura.
"Sorry, Trixie, but we're full up," he said in a deep, gravelly voice as soon as Trixie's gaze fell on him. He was a tawny unicorn with a ruffled, rusty mane. His eyes didn't catch and reflect the dim light, keeping their color hidden from Trixie's sight.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie's reputation precedes her," Trixie replied as she found herself standing in the middle of the saloon. It was a bit awkward. She'd come seeking a room and they were full up, but here in front of her was obviously a fan. Somehow, she regretted not being in her costume. Her hat and cape served as her armor and always made her more confident.
With a roll of her eyes, she approached the bar and hopped up on a stool. Not only was it cold and hard, the legs weren't completely stable. This really was an off-putting inn.
"Let me get you a cider," the bartender offered as he floated a filled tankard onto the bar in front of Trixie. "On the house."
Looping a hoof through the handle, she brought the mug to her lips and gave it a tentative sip. It was sweet, spicy and had a heady apple flavor. It was tasty, if not just a little strong for her delicate palate. "It's good."
"I know," the barkeep replied with a smug grin. When Trixie replied with little more than a glare, he cleared his throat and changed the subject. "So, what brings you out here to the middle of nowhere?"
"The Great and Powerful Trixie just finished her show in Fillydelphia," she haughtily gloated. "It was possibly her greatest show yet!" Less than a second after finishing her boasting, her wide grin fell into a delicate frown. She sighed and took a long swig of the cider. "I am just on my way to the next town."
The barkeeper topped up Trixie's drink from a flagon. "That's not the kind of attitude I'd expect from somepony who just had the best show of her life. Something on your mind?"
Trixie let out a snort as she shook her head. "I am...not sure," she reluctantly admitted, staring at her drink and tapping a hoof gently on the side of her tankard.
"Could it be that you are lonely?"
Trixie scoffed at the notion. "Trixie is accustomed to being alone. She has hordes of fans. What more could she want?"
The barkeep couldn't keep a small smile from crossing his muzzle. "Sure," he replied, unconvinced. "But if that's not what's bothering you, what is?"
Lifting the drink to her muzzle, Trixie took several swallows before returning it to the bar, empty. Her cheeks flushed a bit as she gave a long exhale. "You know, Trixie's shows were not always so popular," she confessed as the bartender poured her another drink. "She used to lie and boast. She would challenge others to outdo her and humiliate them to make herself look better." Bringing the mug to her lips again, she took another swig. "Now her shows are all about showcasing other ponies' talents. The Great and Powerful Trixie uses her magic to make their talents look even better. All of her fans now clamor for the opportunity to be on stage with her. Can you believe that in the middle of her last show that she and the entire crowd broke into song and danced halfway across the city?"
"Sounds to me like you've found something you can be genuinely proud of," the bartender said as he refilled the flagon from an unseen keg. "So why are you still wearing that frown?"
Trixie lowered her head as her ears drooped as well. "Trixie...did not make this change on her own."
"Somepony helped you improve your act? That's nothing to be ashamed of," the barkeep insisted. "Why would that make you unhappy?"
"Trixie... No. I made a foal of myself, and blamed somepony else for it," she muttered. "I allowed myself to become consumed with revenge and tried to take out my vengeance on that same somepony." She took another swig of her drink as she refused to meet his gaze. Instead she just stared into the dark mug. "I caused a lot of trouble...hurt a lot of ponies. Then-then, of all the ponies, she saved me from myself and made me see how wrong I was." Trixie let out a short, bitter chuckle. "How can the worst chapter of my life lead me to a happy ending?" she mused with a small shake of her head. "It was never even me. It was all her. Her and those friends of hers."
"You resent her?" the barkeep finally managed to catch her eye.
After a moment of silence, Trixie broke the gaze by taking another drink from her tankard. She brought it high into the air as she consumed every drop before slamming it down on the bar. "No. Not after she saved me from myself. As much as I wanted to, I—" she stopped mid-sentence as she hiccuped. She patted her chest and shook her head before continuing, "Excuse me. I just... Where was I?"
"The—"
"Right! Twilight Sparkle!" Trixie ignored the bartender. "I just couldn't be mad at her. She risked everything to save me, and then she just-just forgives me! Just like that!" She slammed her hooves against the bar, sending the empty tankard clattering down on its side.
The bartender scoffed. "So, you're mad at yourself, then?"
"Fill it up," Trixie ordered as she set the tankard back up. The barkeep raised an eyebrow, but complied anyway. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is proud of herself, not angry," she asserted. "Why would Trixie be unhappy with herself? There are none as great as Trixie!"
He shook his head as he watched Trixie take another long swig. "You must be unhappy with something. Why else would you be frowning?"
"Trixie...does not know what bothers her," she admitted as she sat back with her mug in her hooves. She twirled it around and watched the liquid reflect the dim, flickering lights as it spun and churned. "Something is not right. Something..."
"If you're not resentful, then maybe you're regretful?" The barkeep suggested. "Maybe there are words unspoken or debts left unpaid."
Trixie physically stopped for a couple of seconds. The only movements she made were to blink a couple of times. Then her mouth fell open. Her eyes trailed over to the barkeep and she realized how silly she must've looked. Grabbing her drink, she hid behind the tankard. After a very long sip, she set it back on the bar.
Finally, Trixie spoke up, "I apologized back then, but only to her. She wasn't even the one I hurt the most." She gave a long sigh as her gaze fell to her drink. "I owe my newfound success and happiness to them... I never even thanked them."
"It's never too late, you know," the bartender offered. "It would probably help that frown."
With a resolute nod, she lifted her drink. After knocking back the remainder all in one go, she slammed it back down onto the bar. "You're right! The Great and Powerful Trixie shall go and repay her debts!" A puff of smoke preceded the sound of hoofbeats. As the smoke dissipated, Trixie fell over her own hooves and onto her face. She got back up and continued towards the door, staggering just a bit.
Trixie exited the inn and vanished into the ever-thickening fog. Just after Trixie was swallowed up by the mist, the inn's door opened again and the bartender trotted out. His face bore an indelible smile. His body rapidly brightened into a blinding white light as his form morphed from a unicorn stallion into an alicorn mare. The only thing that stayed the same was that triumphant smile. Reality began to unfurl and Luna flapped her wings, retreating back into the dreamscape.
Trixie's hind legs kicked out a couple of times before she snorted and her eyes popped open. She had to blink a few times as her mind fought to come to full consciousness. The light filtering in told her that it was morning and time to get up. Dragging herself off of her mattress, she started doing her morning routine. As her body got her ready for the day, her mind wandered off. She was certain she'd had some sort of dream, but, no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't latch on to any sort of memory.
After she gave up on recalling her dream, she noticed something odd. It wasn't that she was in a good mood—she wasn't—but it was as if some grating thing in the back of her mind had left. Something good wasn't lifting her up, something bad that had been dragging her down had left her. She just couldn't identify it.
Once her stomach had been filled, her teeth brushed and her mane wrangled, Trixie stepped out of her cart. This cart was superior to her old one. Not only was it bigger, it had been painted in her colors and it even had her cutie mark emblazoned on each side of it. After the ursa minor destroyed her old one, she thought she would never be able to scrape enough bits to get a new cart. Now, she was so successful that she was able to get this magnificent one. She couldn't be happier with it. After all, this cart wasn't just her stage for her show—it was her home.
Feeling her mood lift at the sight of her new cart, she went about her pre-journey routine. She attached a small bag with snacks and a map to herself. Then, she went and checked every single one of the cart's wheels. She made sure that they were undamaged and sturdy. Then she gave them a withering glare as she silently promised each one in turn that they would die a fiery death should any of them break. There was nothing Trixie hated more than being stuck on the side of some remote trail relying on the kindness of others because one of her wheels had broken—even if that only actually happened once.
With everything set, Trixie hitched herself to her cart and began to pull. Once she got the difficult part of getting the cart moving, she just trotted along with the momentum of her home pushing her along. Grabbing the map in her magic, she unfurled it in front of her. Identifying her position, she traced along the road until it forked. The intersecting pathways were probably a couple of hours of traveling away, which meant that she had plenty of time to decide where to hold her next show.
If she took a right at the fork, then she would end up at Cloudsdale. That was out. She was no pegasus, and Cloudsdale was a city made of clouds anchored to the sky. Another option was to go left and head to Canterlot—Equestria's capital. While she could easily garner a crowd there, even the Great and Powerful Trixie was a bit nervous about putting on a show there. After all, what would she do if one of the Princesses showed up?
Trixie shuddered and considered the last option. If she kept going straight at the fork she would end up in... Ponyville. She'd always avoided going anywhere near there. After she'd wrecked the town and enslaved its citizens with the power of the alicorn amulet she had decided that it be best just to avoid it altogether. How had she ended up on a road leading straight there? She looked back to Canterlot as she found herself torn about where she should go. Sighing, she found her gaze inexplicably drawn again to the tiny town on her map.
That was her darkest hour. From the time of the ursa minor attack until Twilight freed her from the dark powers of the alicorn amulet, it marked the worst chapter of her life. And it all revolved around that horrible town.
No. That wasn't fair. It was a wonderful little town. She and her pride had been bane of her own existence. Even before the ursa minor incident, she was never really happy. Not happy like she was now—sharing the spotlight and the glory had brought her far more joy and success than her showboating and derision. She could still scarcely believe that sharing the spotlight was actually far more enjoyable than hogging it all. The only reason she ever had the epiphany was because of those ponies that had worked so well together to defeat her.
Trixie would have stopped in her tracks had it not been for the rolling cart pushing her along. The taste of apple cider danced on her tongue as she realized it. The ponies of Ponyville—especially Twilight—had helped her to achieve the success she now enjoyed. They deserved to share in that spotlight, too. She needed to show them the new kind of show she put on and share in Trixie's glorious pride. After all, they had a hoof in making it. They deserved that pride.
With a grin, Trixie put the map away. She had made up her mind where her next show would be. Trixie would go to Ponyville and put on the show of her life. It was not because she wanted to boast or to garner those good ponies' adulation. Trixie would put on that show of shows because they deserved it, and she would be happy to do it for them.