The Solo Performance

The next morning you woke up before Twilight and Spike.

Rubbing your eyes, you idly walk out of the room and to a balcony.

The clouds had cleared up and the warm sun shone down on you.

Off in the distance you can see the wreck of your stage and coach.

You whine softly before laying your head on the railing.

Some time later, you were at the dining table with Spike and Twilight.

You ate your cereal idly as Twilight went over a list of things for Spike to write down.

"So, Trixie..."

Her voice snaps you out of your stupor.

"Are you ready to meet with the girls today?"

You look down at your bowl.

You really weren't ready, but you knew you had to face your past mistakes.

"Yeah... Trixie supposes she is."

Twilight tilted her head at you.

"Something on your mind?"

You said nothing.

"Trixie?"

You stand up and walk out.

"Excuse Trixie, she has to prepare."

She just watches you walk out.

You brush your mane in front of a mirror quietly.

You continually run through everything in your mind.

Would they actually forgive and accept you?

It simply just doesn't seem feasible.

Without you even noticing, Twilight was able to sneak up behind you.

"Trixie?"

You fumble with the brush before catching it.

"You're afraid of them, aren't you?"

Your ears fold down.

"Trixie, it's been quite some time since you tried to take over Ponyville.. And since you made a mockery of them. I'm sure that they'd at least be willing to help you."

You look at her through the mirror.

"You think so? Do you actually think they would help me, even after all that I've done?"

Sitting down, Twilight wraps a wing around you.

"Of course I do. I AM the Princess of Friendship, after all."

You looked down, still feeling unsure and guilty.

You helped Twilight take some tables and tools out to where your stage once stood.

She laid out a blueprint page for you both to work on.

You both worked on the basics and try to deconstruct and reconstruct your old stage's layout.

She managed to distract you long enough for the other mane six to arrive.

You flip and turn the page in front of you quizzically.

"Maybe if this goes here, then that could go..."

"TRIXIE!?"

Your face contorts into shock.

You recognized that voice.

Rainbow Dash took the page from you.

"You want US to help HER? Twilight, you KNOW what she did!"

"Now, RD, there's not need ta be like that. Ah'm sure she has a very good reason ta--"

"She's the one the map is calling me to."

"There is NO way I heard THAT right. Her? A friendship problem?"

You sit there and watch them lightly bicker of you.

"Now, now, everypony just calm down. I'm sure that Trixie feels absolutely horrible for what she's done."

Rarity sits next to you, rubbing your back.

"Even if she did turn my mane green... I can look past that."

"You too, Rarity?"

"Now, RD. Just because she zapped ya once, there's no reason ta hold such a silly grudge."

"She tried to enslave us, AJ..."

Twilight sighed and looked at Rainbow Dash sternly.

"I'm not asking you to like it.. I'm asking you to help her. Trixie lost her stage and her home because someone tinkered with the stage's parts."

She levitates a few of the broken pieces of lumber.

"She doesn't have much left, and what are we, the Spirits of the Elements of Harmony supposed to do? Let her continue with nothing?"

"She has a point..."

Rainbow Dash pouted a bit.

"Fine... Let's just get this over with."

You smile a bit softly.

You spent the next hour sorting through all the parts.

Each of you sorted the parts out and scavenged what was still good out of the mess.

Most of it was trash...

You sat with the group as you planned out who was going to do what.

"Pinkie, you and Fluttershy go and see if you can get the new things we need. Wood, cloth, paint, gears."

Pinkie saluting.

"Got it!"

"Dash, you and Applejack will be our muscle. You'll help with the transporting and setting up of the frames."

"Sure thing, sugarcube."

They high hoof.

"Rarity, you and Trixie will work on finishing the layout."

"I.. Are you sure?"

"Why, darling, of course! We'll make it even more fabulous than ever before!"

"What about you, Twilight?"

"I will handle the P.R. Ponies may not have liked you before, but maybe they'll listen to me."

You scrunch a bit.

"Everyone meet back here in two hours."

They went their separate ways.

You watched Rainbow and Applejack compete over who could move more at once.

Rarity kept running over the plans.

"And so I think--- Trixie, darling? Are you listening?"

You shake your head and look at Rarity, then the blueprints.

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

"If you're worried about them, don't be. They do this kind of thing all the time. Brutes, really."

You hold a hoof to your mouth as you giggle some.

"There's the smile I wanted to see."

You spent the next two hours fussing and debating with Rarity over the stage design.

You wanted ti to be fancy.. But not difficult for one pony to set up and maintain.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash hauled the old, broken wood out to the outskirts of the construction area.

The good wood was dismantled and piled neatly for use.

Pinkie and Fluttershy, with the help of some stronger stallions, brought in the newer supplies needed to build the frames and mechanisms.

But Twilight was nowhere to be seen.

After a bit you began to worry if she was even going to come back...

You sat with the other mane five in a circle.

While waiting on Twilight to come back, you all gossiped and shared tales of your adventures.

"So then Rarity shows up with this huuuge boulder on her back, thinking it was a diamond!"

Rarity pouted some in slight offense.

"I thought we agreed to never speak of that again!"

You couldn't help but giggle.

"Hey, we all have our silly and embarrassing moments. Besides, you weren't exactly you anyway."

You made a silly derp face.

They all began to burst into laughter.

Twilight suddenly runs up the road toward the group.

"Sorry I'm late, girls.. Putting up posters and trying to convince other ponies to come was harder than I thought."

"You put up the posters again? But Trixie's were torn down..."

"That's why I made new ones!"

Twilight pulled a flashy poster out of her bag.

It was colored to match your outfit with sparkling stars all over it.

"So uh, where's Spike?"

"He's putting up the last of the posters."

"You sure he can handle that on his own? I mean, the little pipsqueak can barely reach the table, let alone a spot high enough for those."

Twilight just gives Rainbow Dash a soft glare.

"Enough about that, darlings. Trixie and I finally settled on a design for her new stage!"

With the help of Twilight, you both went over the plans for the construction.

No detail was left out.

After the others began work on the frame, you sat off to the side, fiddling with the gears.

You had a small easel next to you that held the advanced blueprints for the mechanism.

Each piece fit together like a puzzle, but the more wrong pieces you picked up, the more frustrated you became.

"Aaaugh! Trixie can't make heads or tails of these pieces like this!"

Twilight notices your little outburst and sits next to you.

You're absolutely fuming right now, cute scrunch and all.

She gives you a gentle nuzzle.

"What's wrong, Trixie? Why are you so upset?"

"Trixie can't make heads or tails of all of this. She's been trying to follow the diagrams but there's so many pieces..."

Twilight took the but of the machine you had already built and compared it to the diagram.

"Well, there's your problem, silly filly! You're building from the inside out."

She points to where the chunk fits and then points to some of the outer bits.

"You should start from the outside. The more complex pieces then become more simple."

She helps you by building a bit of the outer machine framework.

You fold your ears down some before going back to work.

She ruffles your mane some.

"Everypony has to start somewhere."

You all worked through the day.

You spent another night at Twilight's.

Tonight you and Twilight read over some magic history books and books of spells.

Some of them seemed interesting. Almost interesting enough to use in your show.

It was a slow night.

New night, same dream.

Tonight, however, when the darkness came, it was quickly banished by a blue light.

You look around in confusion.

As if a door was in front of you, a rectangular hole opened.

You stepped out into what felt like space.

"Well... This is new."

You just idly float around, not really looking for anything.

"Is this it? Has Trixie died? Did she fall into the abyss?"

"I think not, young unicorn of magical tricks."

You blink a few times.

"Who... Who's there?"

A bright flash of light.

"We are surprised thou don't remember our name. You are a moon, after all."

A larger figure stood in front of you majestically.

"How do you know Trixie's last name?"

"Because, my little pony..."

They step into the light.

Princess Luna stands before you solemnly.

"We are the princess of the night."

You flail in surprise, trying to bow.

Because you were floating, your flailing was pointless.

"Princess? What are you doing here?"

"I am the princess of the night. Thus it is my duty to watch over our subjects as they slumber. I was alerted to your tormenting dreams long ago, but a magical field prevented me from interrupting them until now."

You fold your ears down and curl up.

"So you know about them, huh?"

She nods.

"And we do not blame you for those dreams."

Suddenly, you fall down to what felt like a floor, as if gravity was turned back on.

A hallway of doors showed up.

"You aren't the only one who struggles with the past."

She opens a door to what looks like Twilight's dream.

Twilight seemed to be dreaming about what her life could have been like without the Elements.

Without her friends. Without Spike.

You felt your heart sink a little.

"Is... Is this what she actually thinks about?"

"Indeed. Constantly worrying about alternate paths."

You lower your head.

"She always looks so cheerful, though."

"Do you know why?"

You shake your head a bit.

"It is because she has friends to rely on, and who rely on her."

"Oh... I suppose that makes sense."

"Do you know what is stopping you from such things?"

You flinch a bit at the question.

You didn't respond, even though you knew the answer.

Luna disappears into a flash of light.

You're back in the Magic Kindergarten sequence again.

"This. Little Trixie, you must learn to try and reach out to others, just as we had to do after a thousand years."

"But... How do I do it?"

The dream begins to fade.

"Trust in yourself."

"Luna... Wait... Wait!"

Tomorrow was another day.