The sound of a distant thunder awakened Trixie from her gloomy thoughts.
The young mare raised her head and fixed her gaze, wich, for hours, had only framed the ground in front of her hooves, to the black clouds that covered a portion of the orange sky.
Since she left the town, she walked aimlessly along the edge of the Everfree Forest, lost in dark thoughts of revenge and retaliation, avoiding both the frightening depths of the forest than the people, whose sight would have reminded her of her umiliation. But then, the sound of the distant storm made her recognize that the sun was almost down, that she was far from any shelter, and that the next one could have been a rainy night.
Oh, well. After many years of traveling, she had become accustomed to spend nights in the wild after all. Of course, she would have been more comfortable in her wagon, surrounded by her nice things, but pettiness, like the loss of everything she had, were not enough to take down the Great and Powerful Trixie.
It took her little time to find a cave, more a recess in the side of a hill, but enough to protect her from the rain. Then she collected enough firewood for the night, prepared the campfire, lit it with a spark of her horn, and stood, looking for a little while at the flames, with a smile of triumph on her face. To light a fire without matches was no match for the Great and Powerful Trixie.
But the sense of satisfaction was short lived. The night had already fallen, and the thunders getting closer reminded her that she was alone, helpless, and defeated. Not having slept the night before, Trixie was also very tired, and, even though she wanted to continue to mull about the events that had led her to that point, her thoughts became more and more incongruous, until finally she fell asleep next to the fire, even before the rain began to fall.
What followed was not a restful sleep.
That night her nightmares were even worse than usual. Once again Trixie was on the stage of her wagon, set in an unknown town. Dressed with her stage clothes, with her stage smile depicted on the face, and the desperation in her heart. Trixie was trying her best to entertain the crowd. She resorted to her entire repertoire of magic and illusions, but all she obtained were boos and jeers. Worst of all, in the front row, laughing at her, there were the three mares who had challenged her the day before, along with that pedantic witch who umiliated her.
Her sleep became so restless that Trixie was just about to wake, but first, she became aware of a presence that, for some reason, she didn't noticed before. In the front row, next to the four worst bashers, there was a tall, young, unicorn mare, wearing a crown, with a dark blue coat, and a translucent, rippling and sparkling mane. She was smiling and clapping her hooves at Trixie's performance, with a delighted and childish expression, which partially contrasted with a so dignified figure.
Focusing on her, surprised and relieved by the unusual turn taken by her usual nightmare, Trixie barely noticed that she had interrupted her performance, and that the rest of the crowd was disappearing from her dream, until only the two of them remained, looking at each other.
"Your show was so fun!" the dark unicorn said. "You, commoner, are a talented entertainer."
"And who are you?" Trixie asked suspiciously.
The mare looked surprised for a moment, then upset, "We...!" began with a thundering voice, then stopped, took a breath, and smiled graciously. "My bad. I have not yet introduced myself. I'm Princess Luna, of Canterlot."
Only at that point Trixie realized that the mare also had wings as well as the horn.
"That Princess Luna?" Asked a shocked Trixie.
"Guess, yes."
"The Princess of the Night of Equestria?"
"Yes."
"The sister of Princess Celestia?"
"Yes."
"The one that rises the Moon every night?"
"Yes."
"The one that had been exiled on the Moon for a thousand years, for having tried to bring down the world into darkness forever?"
"Not so kind to point out that, commoner, but... yes."
Trixie stepped back, "I'm the Great and Inedible Trixie! The most awfully tasting pony in all Equestria!"
"Listen!" Said Princess Luna with an annoyed expression. "I... I, don't know who made-up this tale (although I suspect of a certain Princess), but I have never eaten anypony in my life!"
A little relieved that the present nightmare wouldn't end up even worse than the previous ones, Trixie asked, "Well... How can I dream of you, if I've never seen you before?"
Princess Luna assumed a regal pose, "You are not dreaming me Trixie. I entered in your dream on my own. I often did so, a long time ago, when no one was awake after sunset, and nights were long and lonely.
"Nights are more animated now that I remember they used to be, but I still can see dreams shining like stars in the night, and your was shining alone, in a place so far from the others, that I had to come and see.
"So you are an illusionist even in real life?"
"Tsk! Tsk!" Trixie lowered her hat over the eyes preparing for her entry, then exploded with a joyful expression "The Great and Powerful Trixie is the most spectacular magician ever seen by pony eyes!"
A volley of fireworks stressed her words. Trixie continued, "In Trixie's show you will see flowers and colorful balloons appear out of thin air!" Trixie accompanied every word with the corresponding trick. "Lights and illusions!" an audience appeared again around Princess Luna, this time amazed and delighted by Trixie's display. It was so similar to those that Trixie's reminded of some of her most recent shows, to make her suspect that the Princess herself rummaged through her memory to arrange it. "Everypony have fun, and none gets hurt. The impossible becomes possible with the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!"
Princess Luna cheered until the end of the presentation, then, as Trixie stopped, "Your show is so full of joy," she said, "but your dreams are so dark..."
Again the crowd slowly disappeared from Trixie's dream, with her wagon, her cape and hat, and the entire town. The surroundings became those around the entrance of the cave where Trixie was sleeping.
Trixie did not really want to talk about it, but she didn't want to be rude to the Princess, who had been so kind to her, "Trixie has had difficult beginnings," she said, "and her last show... went really bad."
The Princess cocked her head to one side, "What happened?"
Trixie looked down, "Trixie doesn't really know," she replied. "The stage was mounted, the audience gathered, and then the show begun as usual. But in the first row there was a group of ponies who didn't like it. They turned their noses up, and provoked the Great and Powerful Trixie," Trixie smiled fiercely. "But Trixie has taught them a good lesson."
"Maybe you have been a bit too harsh?" Luna asked.
Trixie kicked a pebble "Trixie really doesn't like to make fun of the crowd. Even if others laugh, it leaves a bitter taste," then, looking at the Princess. "But what could I do? I had just started. I had to defend my show! They had not even paid to see me. If they did not like it, they could leave. What right did they have to ruin my show?"
"And this is all that has gone wrong?"
"No," Trixie replied sadly. Somehow, she felt that the princess already knew what happened. "Sometimes a performance goes wrong. It happens. And somehow I saved that. So I closed the show as usual, and prepared to spend the the night in that town, first to leave, the morning after."
Trixie stopped for a moment to gather her ideas, then spoke again, increasingly excited, "Wha... what happened later is incredible. I mean... I boasted during the show to have defeated a monster, An Ursa Major, with my powers, bu.. but that was part of the show, right? None really believe it! And even so, who would disturb a monster just to see if I'm able to do it again? And those two idiots did just that! They led that beast in town! And then came to ask me to beat her! This is crazy! This is madness!"
"Did you run away?"
"No!" Shouted Trixie, then. "I mean, yes, I panicked at first, but those two were in danger... the entire town was... I stood up and tried to face the beast, I swear! But she was too strong. My wagon was crushed. There were damages to the houses... and when all was over, everypony in town hated me!"
Trixie took a breath to calm down, "The Great and powerful Trixie didn't want to fight with those ponyvillains at that point. So she preferred to leave".
Trixie closed her eyes, and her mind was filled with the vision of her destroyed wagon. Even if she could have searched through the rubble, she would have only found her beautiful cape all torn, and her beloved hat all squashed.
The anger grew up inside her: "They had no right to treat me that way! They are haters! They are... TIEVES!"
Trixie stopped, realizing that she was screaming in the face of the Princess. She drew back and squeezed her eyes, refusing to cry, but the tears filled them.
"The sad and miserable trixie would really like to have her pretty hat now," she said. She would have hidden her face in it, to cry without being seen by anyone, as she did when she was a filly, and her clumsy attempts at magic were not liked by the people.
Without saying a word, Luna invited Trixie to go with her, pushing her gently with a wing, and began to walk.
With her vision blurred by the tears, Trixie could not see clearly where they were going, and just followed the the dark mare beside her, head down.
After few minutes The Princess stopped. Trixie sat down and looked up. She found out to be on the top of the hill overlooking Ponyville. The town appeared calm and tidy in the darkness. Some light was on, but no one was around. There was beauty, and a bit of sadness in that view. Trixie realized that was the kingdom that the Princess of the Night was bound to contemplate.
"I happen to know some of the pony that argued with you," Said the Princess with a formal tone, "and I'm pretty sure they didn't really want to be rude. I'm sure that, if you were to see them again, you could explain, and resolve your conflicts, so as not to leave with resentment.
"Believe me, life is way too long to spend it in resentment. I mean, after the first two or three centuries revenge seems so pointless, and to plunge the world into darkness seems more a pose than something you really feel to have to do. It ends that you start playing whit those who are trying to stop you, instead of burning them to ash... ops!"
Luna paused, realizing perhaps that Trixie was staring at her again with the expression of someone who is afraid of being eaten, "Oh, well," resumed the Princess, "we are not here to talk about that. So are you going to reconcile with the inhabitants of this town?"
"Thanks for your kind words Princess," Trixie replied regaining her composture. "The Great and Powerful Trixie can assure you of not having any resentment toward those Ponyvillains any more. But she is not going to see them again."
"That's a shame," Said the Princess, starting to fade along with the rest of the dream, "since I think I let some of your feelings to leak in their dreams. It looks like it's time for you to wake up".
Trixie woke up suddenly, finding herself lying in the cave, next to the fire. She was awakened by a noise outsitde the shelter, and then, she heard a voice that she seemed to recognize.
"I told you that a dream that we all share is a message of some kind".
The head of that pedantic witch, that Trixie had come to know so well, peered cautiously at the entrance of the cave, then the mare came forward smiling, soon followed by the three ponies that challenged her in her last show.
They had come looking for her! Trixie gritted her teeth and stood, her head sunk between the shoulders, her horn sparkling. She would have shown them that the Great and Poweerful Trixie was not an easy pie.
"Please!" shouted the purple unicorn putting her front hooves forward. "Whe are not here to fight!" then smiling again. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I want to introduce to you my friends here: Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash"
Only at that point Trixie realized that the four were wearing raincoats, and those were still dripping. She had taken refuge from the storm in the cave, and it has already ceased when she woke up, but, while Trixie was sleeping, the four mares were looking for her under the rain.
"We think we may have been rough with you" Continued Twilight "and we're sorry. We were also very concerned, since you left the city so quickly and without taking anything with you," Then looking at Rainbow Dash. "Especially with such an unexpected storm coming."
"I can't kick any cloud out of the sky," replied a visibly annoyed Rainbow. "Especially at night."
"Ahem..." Rarity stepped forward, "I allowed myself to search through the remains of your wagon. There was not really much that could be recovered, I'm sorry, but it seemed to me that you were fond of these."
She took out a bundle from under the hood, making it float with her magic, and unrolled it in front of Trixie. Inside, properly folded, there were her cape and hat. In the light of the fire they appeared shiny and clean, as they had never been before.
"Since I could, I made some repair..." said Rarity smiling.
"...And don't worry for the wagon!" interjected Applejack "We can redo it in no time. Believe me, I made many of them. We'll redo even the folding stage without problems. Let it not be said that the inhabitants of Ponyville desn't know how to treat guests."
Trixie smiled viciously, snatched the clothes in mid-air, put on the cape and, in front of the eyes of an horrified Rarity, crumpled the hat until this took the appearance of that of a practiced sorceress.
"Tsk! Tsk!" Trixie put her hat on, and lowered it on her eyes, hoping that this, and her wicked smile, would be enough to hide her real feelings of emotion and gratitude. "The Great and Powerful Trixie does not need the pity of her fans."
Trixie would have paid good money to see that surprised expression on the faces of the four mares, "You are a tough crowd, and didn't like my show. Do not deny it. That's not a shame, that's a challenge. Next time we meet, The Great and Powerful Trixie will show you something that will amaze you. You will not believe to your eyes. You'll see!"
Time to leave the scene with style. Her favored way.
With a sudden explosion, Trixie disappeared in a smokescreen.
Or at least she tought she did.
Hovering in the morning sky of Canterlot, Luna stared until the last instant at the gleaming Moon disappearing behind the mountains. On the other side of the sky, her sister was rising a Sun so blazing to hurt her eyes accustomed to the darkness. But in her lowering the Moon, that morning, there was no sadness, as there is no sadness in putting an end to a well spent night. Luna was satisfied, and in peace.
Luna landed on the terrace of the Canterlot Castle, and there she waited for Celestia to come. She was really tired, but she wanted to greet her sister, as usual, before retiring to rest.
She didn't have to wait long. Celestia soon joined her, and the two returned in the castle, walking together without saying a word, until their paths had to split. Luna to go to her rooms to rest, and Celestia to attend to her morning duties.
"You seem happy today Luna," Celestia said first to leave her sister. "Something good happened tonight?"
"I think so, sister," Luna replied. "It was a good night. I'm feeling like I've returned a favor".
