Canterlot (Added Content)
I sat alone in my caravan, my signature hat and cape resting upon a pony mannequin to my right. I was staring at a small pile of bits in front of me in mild annoyance. It had been months since I had gathered a decent sized crowd at my show.
“Things are not going so well for Trixie. How is Trixie even going to eat?” A long sigh escaped my lips. “Oh, what am I doing? No one likes my stage act anymore, anyway.” As tears of frustration began to blur my vision, I lashed out in anger, scattering the bits in every direction.
My horn ignited as I stood up to gather up the rest of the bits before placing them in my saddlebags. I looked into the mirror – hating the face staring back at me – before turning to exit the caravan to go find something that was cheap enough to eat. Being as I was in Canterlot, this wasn’t going to be an easy task. As I walked through town I would get an evil glare or straight up dirty looks. It used to bother me, but lately it was overshadowed by my self hatred, and my awareness of it was pushed to the back of my mind to only be recalled at a later time. My knowledge that I was a failure as a mage and only good for parlor tricks didn’t help the hurtful looks. But I managed, mostly. It had been a while since the incident in Ponyville, but nopony forgets a fake, let alone somepony who ran in the face of danger.
Walking down the street, nothing in particular caught my eye. Just when I was about to give up and go down another street, a bakery came into view.
“Well, here goes nothing.” I pushed open the door and walked inside to the counter. “Excuse me sir, but how much is it for a loaf of bread?"
“Well, well, well. Looks like the Great and Pathetic Trixie has decided to grace us with her presence. Are you here to say you slew the cursed Bread Monster?” The oh-so rude stallion let out a gut-wrenching laugh while banging his hoof on the counter.
“Please sir, I just wish to buy some food and leave.”
“Oh no, first give us a trick. Then maybe, just maybe, I’ll give you somethin’.”
I knew I shouldn’t have done it, but a sinister smile came across my face when I heard those words.
“Trixie does wish to please the masses.” A beam of magic shot from my horn to the stallion's face, replacing his pony features with those of a pig.
I found myself sitting upon a roof. Under any other circumstances I would've appreciated the gorgeous view of the sprawling city below me, but now was not one of those times. After the baker failed to take kindly to my ‘trick’ and chased me out of the store, I wandered around Canterlot for awhile before teleporting to this roof to sulk in solitude. Or at least I thought I’d be alone.
“And why do we shed tears of sorrow?” I reached up and felt my face; unknown to me, it was stained with tears that were still flowing down my cheeks.
Starting to choke up, I managed to stammer out, “I don’t know.”
“How does one not know why they shed tears?”
“It’s gotten to the point to where I no longer know why I do what I do. And sometimes my body does its own thing. But If I had to guess, it’s the plight my failures have landed me in.”
“And what is your name?”
“T-trixie Lulamoon.” I winced as I told the mysterious mare my name, waiting for a tongue lashing or worse. But she surprised me when she pulled me in for a hug.
“Everypony makes mistakes, some of them bigger and/or worse than others. But that is no cause to treat somepony differently.” I looked up to see who the kind pony was. I was shocked to see one of the Princesses of Equestria sitting there holding me, a washed up showmare.
“Princess Luna! Forgive Trixie for laying her troubles onto your already burdened shoulders.” Luna chuckled at me.
“Oh, you silly pony, you are not troubling me. Now, what is the reason for all of this self-pity?”
I sat there dumbfounded while I stared slack jawed at the Princess of the night in front of me. Did I really just hear the Princess ask me why I was upset??? The princess sat alongside with me with a peaceful look upon her face. Thoughts raced through my head, trying to pinpoint my current motive for my mood.
“It’s just, it’s just hard to make a living anymore. Nopony wants to come out and see The Fake and Untrustworthy Trixie. My run in with Twilight Sparkle has ruined my life.”
“Are you blaming her for your woes?”
I glanced up at Luna, searching her face for any signs of accusation, but found none. Somehow I found this annoying, but it did not anger me.
“No, that’s not what Trixie means. It was Trixie’s fault, but still.”
Luna raised an eyebrow at me.
“But still what? It seems to me that you still feel resentment toward Twilight, and your own actions do not help your case.”
My eyes shot open as I shot a surprised look at her.
“Oh yes, I know of your latest trick. I will admit it was funny, but how are you going to get ponies to like you if you continue to run around pulling foalish pranks on anypony who gives you a hard time?”
I slumped my head down in defeat. It was true. I took my anger out on other ponies. It wasn’t right, but it was the only way I knew how to cope. Twilight had always outdone me, even if she didn’t remember that we had gone to magic school together. I looked back up at Luna and opened my mouth to speak when my stomach growled and spoke for me. I felt my cheeks burn from embarrassment, and I turned my head away from Luna.
“Trixie, when was the last time you ate?”
“I had a piece of bread this morning.”
“When was the last time you had a real meal?”
I bit my lip. I did not want to answer this question. Partly from embarrassment, but mostly because I truly did not know the answer. I hadn’t been making the bits I had used to, and most of them went to keeping my caravan in working order so food came second. I kept darting my gaze away from Luna, who only kept on trying to lock her eyes with mine.
Luna’s voice was soft and kind. “Trixie?” When I finally managed to find the courage to look her in the eyes, her expression shocked me. Her cyan eyes was filled with pain, and disgust.
“It’s been awhile. But I will not have a Princess take pity on Trixie the Great and Powerful!”
Luna leaned down and pushed me to my hooves.
“Come with me then. A pony should not suffer, due to the arrogance of others, even if the arrogance of said pony could be less.”
A light blue aura wrapped around both me and the princess. A blinding light filled my eyes and the sound of air getting sucked into a vacuum pierced my ears with a loud pop. Once I recovered my sight a building came into view. A restaurant to be more exact. I hesitantly looked up at Luna.
“I-I don’t have enough bits for a place like this.”
Luna looked down at me with kind eyes and lightly shook her head.
“Who said you had to pay?”
Shock filled my body. Did I hear that clearly? Did a Princess of Equestria just offer, no, tell me she was going to pay for my meal? This was new to me. Nopony had ever show me this much kindness. Not even the few who knew me as a filly. Let alone somepony who did not know me well, and even knew of my past mistakes. She had left me speechless with my mouth ajar.
“Are you just going to stand there with your mouth open, or are you going to come inside and get something to eat?”
Words still wouldn’t come out of my mouth. I just nodded my head and followed Luna inside. A unicorn mare greeted the Princess with a happy smile until her eyes laid upon me. Which turned her smile into a sneer.
“Just for one this evening Princess?”
“No, for two. I’m having lunch with a friend today.” Luna turned her head and looked at me with a smile. The hostess caught her line of sight and smirked. Luna snapped her head back towards the unicorn mare. Her tone had a slight irritance to it. “Will that be a problem?”
Panic had set into the mare's eyes, I swear it looked like she was going to piss herself with fear.
“No not at all Princess, follow me.” The mare had show us to our table and quickly made her exit.
“The nerve of some ponies.” Luna shook her head in disgust as she opened her menu.
“I’m not exactly the most loved pony right now.”
“That doesn’t excuse poor behavior and service at an establishment. Regardless of one's past, it is not their job nor their place to pass judgment on to you, let alone anypony else.”
Why is she being so nice? What does she get out of this? I found myself looking at Luna. Her mane the forever flowing in a wind only felt by her hair. Her soft dark blue coat, along with those caring cyan eyes of hers. I felt my cheeks start to burn and my heart rate start to pick up.
“So, what price rage am I looking at?” I glanced up at Luna, who nonchalantly waved her hoof.
“Anything you want.”
My jaw dropped at her remark. I was still having a hard time dealing with somepony being so nice to me.
“A-are you sure? It’s all pretty pricey.”
Luna set her menu down and looked me in the eyes.
“Trixie, if I was concerned about the price, I wouldn’t have taken you here. So please enjoy yourself and get anything you’d like.” Luna smiled at me again and went back to looking at her menu.
I picked up my menu and started to browse, still feeling a little uneasy with the generosity that the Princess was showing me. I tried to find something inexpensive, but the menu wasn’t being cooperative. After a few minutes of searching I finally decided on what I wanted and placed my menu back down to find that Luna had been looking at me. It seemed to catch her off guard, as I was putting my menu down her eyes darted to another direction fairly quickly.
“Luna, have you ever had doubts that gnawed at the back or your mind. That never wanted to go away? That no matter how hard you try to block something; it still finds a way to rear its ugly head and ruin your self pride?” At first I though she didn’t hear me, but when I went to open my mouth to repeat the question she finally spoke.
“All the time Trixie. A Lot of things from my past trouble me. But something has come back. And it frightens me to what might happen.” Luna stared off into the distance for a brief moment. before resuming her answer. “I’ve tried to talk to my sister about it, but a part of me thinks I’m acting like a foal and getting paranoid over nothing. I just pray that I am.”
A waiter had walked up to take our order. Our food was brought and we both pretty much ate in silence. Nothing much was said between us. Luna seemed to be lost in thought, and what ever it was looked like it was weighing heavy on her mind. I tried to speak up several times to make the meal less awkward, but each time I tried, the look in Luna's eyes stopped me in my tracks.
We finished up eating and Luna went to pay for our meal.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to pitch in any bits?” Luna laughed and shook her head.
“I swear it's fine Trixie, think of it as a friend treating another friend to dinner.” Luna paid for our meal and we made our way outside.
“I don’t know what to say Princess-”
“Luna is fine.”
“Eerr, um ok. I don’t know what to say Luna. Really, you have no idea how much this means to me.”
“All I ask of you is to try to not act out as much. Maybe you should give Twilight a visit and talk to her about the way you feel. It’ll make you feel a lot better. Trust me.”
We continued to walked down the street and were about to turn the corner when Luna stumbled and started to violently shake her head while saying ‘No, not again!’
“Luna are you ok?”
The Princess had spread her wings and with a powerful downwards stroke lifted into the air.
“I must to get to the old castle. Find my Sister and Twilight!” Luna took off at an alarming speed, leaving me screaming after her in the streets of Canterlot.
I had a dreaded feeling in the pit of my stomach. Panic, fear, and dread ran in my head. But also, a feeling I have never felt before also entered the mix. It caught me off guard, and confused me for a minute. Do I like her? Wait, do I even like mares? I can’t dwell on that, I need to find Twilight. Without hesitation to the thought I took off towards the Canterlot Train depot. As I ran through the streets of Canterlot I could not get the picture of her cyan eyes out of my head. I felt reinvented and alive. I new reason drove me again. I no longer felt so alone and angry anymore.
I had purpose once again.
