You took a sip from your drink at the bar as Renaldo, an old stallion whom was the bartender and your friend, went about serving other customers. Today was New Year's Eve in Fillydelphia, decorations had dotted all the houses and apartments, along with the richer shops that could afford many decorations.
Which was saying something seeing how many of them did have decorations that you saw on your way to the bar. Why where you here? Well Renaldo has been your friend for years and you have no one else to celebrate with after mom passed away eight months ago, three days before her birthday.
Your poor mother had died from a heart attack, and your father had left before your birth but you got through it without him...and maybe a bit of alcohol when you were older. Without your mom now you lived alone in the apartment building that you had shared with her.
Thankfully you had enough pay from your job as a librarian. Sure it was boring sometimes, but it surprisingly payed well. Plus you wouldn't have to worry about overdue book since you could read there. Though sometimes it was empty feeling.
Renaldo came back over to you as you lift up for cup and finish downing the rest of your drink. Setting the cup down, he takes it and starts to clean it before speaking in his old sounding accent, "So how have you been mate? Still in the same old apartment all by yourself?"
You nod, he meant well but it did remind you of your mother. You replied to him, "Pretty much you old geezer, it may be lonely at time but it holds some find memories."
He laughs, "I know ya won't let go, but promise me you'll get out more and not hang around here all night. You're a good kid, you just stay cooped up all the time." He was right, perhaps you should get out more?
You didn't have time to ponder it though as the door to the semi-quiet bar opened, there wasn't much business on New Years since most ponies have families. What appeared to be a blue unicorn walked in wearing a cape and hat, though the cape was covered in mud and the hat was slightly ripped with some mud on it. Her hooves were also covered in a bit of mud which she wiped off with the carpet, probably so Renaldo wouldn't get too mad.
The mare quietly walked over to the bar and sat down In the chair next to your right, staring forward and waiting for the bartender. You did look at her face as best as you could and from the looks of her left eye she might've been crying, but about what? You silently curse your mother for giving you caring manners, not that it was a bad thing.
As the mare ordered a bottle of whiskey you looked her over more, the hat covered most of her mane but it seemed a bit frazzled from what you could see. Her eye was certainly a bit red, and if only to confirm your suspicions you see a small tear roll down her cheek.
Renaldo returns with her bottle of whiskey, she takes it with a hoof without saying anything and lifts the bottle to her lips to take a sip. She seemed to gag at the taste but drank a bit more and swallowed anyway before setting it down.
You look at Renaldo who is looking at you, he then looks at the mare and back to you. The old bastard knew about your kind heart, as if it wasn't obvious enough to him. He walks down the bar to serve some other customers.
The mare takes another gulp, coughing a bit. It was obvious she didn't usual drink so she would be getting drunk fast if you didn't intervene. You clear your throat and speak softly, "Excuse me miss, are you alright?"
The mare gently put the bottle down, but didn't look at you as she spoke, "T-Trixie is fine. S-she's just suffering another minor s-setback with her magic show..." She lifts the bottle and takes another rather big gulp from it, already swaying slightly.
She spoke again, "S-stupid Twilight had to ruin T-Trixie's show in Ponyville, she caused all this,"" she again drinks as you think. She referred to herself in third person which was weird, and she seemed upset over one show. But it didn't make sense as to why she looked like this if all that happened was one failed show.
You decide to ask her that's wrong, "Uh, Trixie is it? May I ask what's wrong?"
She takes another sip, then looks into the bottle and sets it down. She lets out a light *hic* as she turns her head to you, "The G-great and *hic* Powerful Trixie is fine," what? Great and Powerful? It sounded familiar but didn't make sense.
She kept talking, muttering to herself, "S-she's fine...T-Trixie doesn't need help. She's too good for h-help." The mare seemed to have another tear roll down as she looked around for Renaldo, almost falling out if her chair in the process.
You sigh, your mother would come back and kill you if you let an innocent mare drink herself to death, you speak in a concerned tone, "I think you do need help, you shouldn't be drinking seeing his you're already getting drunk. Would you like to tell me what's wrong?"
She turns back to you, she furrowed her eyebrows and frowned, "T-tri-*hic*-xie doesn't need help from f-fucking commoner." Well that was harsh and unnecessary, she stared at you, keeping her face the way it was.
You attempt to keep a cool head and reply, "Look Trixie, I'm just trying to be nice...you don't have to be a bitch about it." It was rude but she was drunk, anything like pleading wouldn't work.
She looked taken aback by your reply, "T-Trixie will not stand f-for such insult! She is the Great and...and..." She stops and suddenly lays her hooves on the bar table and buries her head in it, starting to sob as the whisky bottle is hit by her horn and falls off the counter and shatters. Renaldo curses and moves to pick up the broken glass.
She sobs as mumbled words come out, "T-Trixie can't take this s-stupid shit anymore! She can't do a-any of her shows right!" She kept sobbing which drew a bit of attention your way, you quietly put a hoof on her back at she went on.
"H-had to even sell my c-carriage just to afford f-food. Trixi- I g-give up!" She kept crying, which was drawing more attention from the other bar partings that weren't drunk off their flank. You start to rub her back with her hoof.
It actually prompts her to suddenly lift her head off the counter and bury it in your chest and wrap her hooves around you, almost knocking you off your seat and her horn nearly stabs your muzzle. You lightly blush from the sudden proximity to her, but kept rubbing her back with a hoof.
Her sobbing and hics kept going on for a few minutes, incoherent words coming out from her mouth and slightly vibrating against your chest. Her sobs eventually quiet down and she pulls away from you, sniffing and staring you, "T-t-Trixie is thankful for you to deal with her p-pathetic crying." She sniffed again and looked away from you.
By now most of the customers had gone back to what they were doing, you rubbed one hoof with the other and looked at her, "So your carriage...was it like your home or something?"
She nodded, "Yes...it was...Trixie had to sell it to *hic* afford food and the costs here. Now she- I'm homeless," she sounded and looked like she was about to cry again, you looked to Renaldo for help. But he only shrugs at you.
You look back at her and put a hoof on her left shoulder, "Hey, it's gonna be okay. I'm sure we can think of something," you had no idea what you were doing, you blamed your mother for this.
She looked at you puzzled before sniffing again, "W-we? Y-you wish to help me?" She lifted a hoof to wipe away a tear.
You nodded, "Yes, it would be wrong of me to leave you here like this when I can help. Now come on,me should get you cleaned up I think," you put some bits on the counter, enough for both your drink and hers before getting off your chair and gesture for her to follow.
She looked at the bits for a few seconds before getting off the chair and straightening her hat, trotting to get by your side as you both leave the bar. You could swear you heard Renaldo snickering.
As you both get outside, You shiver. It seems the temperature had dropped a few degrees while you were inside. You look at Trixie, only to find her staring at you. She coughs, and appeared to be waiting for you to walk.
You look to your right and begin to walk down the sidewalk, heading back to your apartment with Trixie right by your side. As you both walk through the slightly snowed sidewalk, you look at Trixie to find her again staring at you. You speak up before she can turn away, "So what's with the cape and hat if I may ask?"
She sighs, but kept eye contact. She spoke in a sad tone, "They're gifts from my mother when I was a little filly, she said I could grow up to be whatever I wanted to be. So I wanted to become a showmare and dazzle Everypony with my magic."
She bit her lip before continuing, "As you can already see...it didn't go well and my dream is dead, I could barely afford to go from one town to the next. The there was the matter of supplies like food, water, fireworks, along with advertisement!"
She looked stressed by it but continued, "After the Ursa Minor incident in Ponyville, Trixi- I became a laughing stock, the fact that I could come here was a miracle after buying a new carriage and trying to do some shows in other towns. But I was broke and had to sell my new carriage to get the food I wanted and needed."
She stopped talking, you could see how hard it's been for her. A crushed dream and losing your home is always harmful to one's self-esteem. You arrive at your apartment building and walk inside, leading Trixie up a few flights of stairs before arriving at your room on the 4th floor.
You pull out your key and put it in the door knob, unlocking it and opening it. You look at Trixie and gesture for her to go in first, it caused her to giggle a bit and she walked in. You followed right behind her and closed the door looking around your apartment.
Your apartment was decent enough to live in, in front of you was a couch and small tv on a large nightstand, the small kitchen on the far right of the room. It was nothing but a refrigerator with a stove, a dishwasher, and a few cabinets.
To the left was a hallway that led to three doors, the only one on the left was the only bedroom in the place and the two on the right was the bathroom and laundry room. Trixie looked around before looking at you, "Ah...I'd like to clean myself up if that's fine."
You nodded, "Of course, go down the hallway and open the door on the far end of it on your right, you'll be in the bathroom then. Would you like for me to clean up your cape and hat?"
She grabbed her hat and pulled it off of her head with a hoof, looking at it for a few seconds before looking at you. She then levitates them both to you, letting you take them in your hooves, "Please be careful with them," she asked before turning to go down the hallway to take her shower, flicking her tail as she went.
You watches her for a few seconds before she enters the bathroom and closes the door. You head down the dame hallway to the laundry room and enter it, putting her things into the washer and closing it. Turning it on so it would clean them overnight.
You step back out and close the door to the laundry room as you hear the sounds of the shower on. You head back to the couch and lay on it on your back, staring up at the ceiling. "Well mom, hope you're happy that I'm helping somepony in need on New Years. You always said I needed more friends."
Sometime passes before the sounds of the shower cease, you sit up and turn to look down the hallway. Trixie comes outside of the bathroom and down the hallway a minute later, looking better both physically and emotionally.
She looks at you and gives you a light smile, coming over and sitting on the other side off the couch. She tabs her hooves, then speaks up, "So...what are you going to do now? Let me stay here for a bit or send me on my way?"
The question made you chuckle, "No Trixie, you can stay as long as you need to. I can tell you're gonna need time to get back on your hooves."
That causes her to smile at you more, "Thank you, you're too kind to have helped me out. I suppose I will sleep on the couch?"
You shake your head, "You're a guest in my house, you can have the bed. I use to usually sleep on the couch before my mother passed."
She flinched at the mention on your mother's passing, "Oh...I'm so sorry for bringing that up...are you sure?"
"Positive," you reply.
She was about to say something when she yawns, causing her to lightly blush. Then she speaks, "If you insist," she gets up and starts to walk past you, before she suddenly stops and leans in closer to you. You didn't have time to guess what she was doing since you felt a pair of lips touch your cheek.
You blush as she spoke quietly, "That was for helping Trixie and being kind." She walks away from you, saying "goodnight" as she went down the hallway.
You cough and mentally slap yourself to get your brain to unjam. That had been quiet unexpected... You lay your head on the couch p, your hooves behind your head as you stared at the ceiling.
Well you found your New Years promise for sure, help the showmare regain her confidence and her show. She wasn't that bad of a mare, maybe just dejected after a few failed shows.
As you close your eyes, you can almost feel her lips kissing your cheek again, causing you to smile as you fell asleep.
Author's Note
Happy New Year Everypony! I do hope you enjoyed this small story, cuz I enjoyed listening to the Dazzlings singing as I wrote it. Sadly my proofreader has been having a crummy week so Shimmering Sunset is getting a bit stalled. But I swear in the names of the Goddesses I will finish it no matter what, course that means I had to proofread this myself so I expect mistakes to have been made.
Stay safe into the next year and beyond my friends.
