As The Lights Go Out

by Northguard

Rating: teen
Tags: Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Sad, Starlight Glimmer, Trixie
Length: 1129

Trixie begins to have second thoughts about her dream job.

Trixie has her dream job. She's the magician of the most popular circus in Equestria, but it came at a terrible cost. She had to say goodbye to Ponyville and her friends. She had her days of glory, but she's not happy anymore. Her smile is fake, she's wearing a mask. She is being torn apart on the inside while her mask begins to crack. Its no longer a dream job, its torture. Then one day during a show, a familiar face shows up.

This story was inspired by a song of the same name made by DAGames and was purely driven by my emotions.

Published 2020-07-17 21:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-07-17 21:10:01 UTC

Not so great and powerful anymore

Trixie smiled as she performed her finishing vanishing act. As she lifted the small curtain over herself the tension in the crowd built. Once she let it go, a trapdoor opened under her hooves and she fell through it. She landed on a mattress and the trapdoor silently closed just before the crowd could see it. As she lay on the mattress she could hear the crowd cheering and whistling. She got off the mattress and removed the magic suppressor on her horn while letting out a big sigh.

"Is this what I actually want?" she asked herself.

Her mind searched for an explanation for why she felt so down, but it didn't come to anything else than a memory of her friends back in Ponyville. She held back her tears as she walked up to the backstage to wait for the day's show to end.

Half an hour later she got a signal to come out on stage for the ending. She placed her hat back on her head as she headed out on the stage. On the way she ignited a fuse that was connected to a row of carefully placed fireworks. She walked out on the stage along with the other performers. They bowed as the crowd clapped and cheered at top of their lungs. The ringmaster lit his horn as he opened the tent to view the night sky just as the spark on the fuse reached the fireworks. The rockets flew into the sky and lit it up with colours of all kinds.

Trixie looked around the crowd to see everypony mesmerized by the fireworks, except for one. The pale, light grayish heliotrope coat, the purple mane and tail with pale, light grayish aquamarine streaks and the moderate Persian blue iris' were unmistakable. It was her best friend; Starlight Glimmer. She was looking right at Trixie and nobody else with a small smile on her muzzle. Trixie suddenly felt a warm feeling bubbling up inside her as a smile crept across her face. After so long, she finally saw her best friend again, but the happy feeling quickly disappeared as the fact that they were so far away from Ponyville. Starlight would have to return home again, which meant that she would be alone again. Trixie's smile slowly faded as she walked offstage and returned to her wagon.

She closed the door behind her before casting a soundproofing spell on around her. She threw off her cape and hat before letting out her bottled up emotions in a wail of pain. The wails soon turned to tears as she bawled her eyes out. She looked over to her desk to see a picture of her and Starlight when they first became friends. They were standing outside her old wagon while smiling and hugging each other.

"I'm so STUPID!!! Why would I choose this over my friends?!?!" Trixie shouted as she began crying like her tears were waterfalls.

Eventually she got it all out and she cancelled the soundproofing spell. When she did she suddenly heard a commotion outside the wagon.

"You can't just visit without permission. You have to request-"

*CRASH*

"Hey! What do you think you're do-"

*CRUNCH*

"Somepony call the-"

*CRASH*

Silence reigned for a few moments before Trixie heard a knock on her door. Trixie hesitated for a moment, but eventually opened the door to come face to face with Starlight. Trixie couldn't believe it. Her best friend had just knocked out three guards just to meet her.

"St-St-Starlight?!" Trixie exclaimed.

Before Starlight could respond Trixie pounced on her and they rolled over the grass for a few quick moments before coming to a stop and the lied next each other while laughing together. The laughter quickly died down however as the lied there looking at the stars and each other. Suddenly Starlight broke the silence.

"So how's your 'dream job' coming along?" she asked with a smirk on her face.

"Would you prefer the truth or a lie?" Trixie asked as an answer as her smile faded.

"I want to hear the truth." Starlight said as her smirk slowly disappeared.

"To be honest, this job lost its magic long ago. I've been wearing a false smile on more shows than I can count. But now.....my mask is cracking. I can't keep it up much longer Starlight. It's tearing me up on the inside. I want the torture to end, but nothing I do helps." Trixie said as tears began to flow once again.

Starlight face was immediately filled with worry and she sat up and pulled Trixie into a tight embrace as both shed tears together. When they finally released Trixie was the first to talk.

"I-I'm so sorry!" she said through gasps for breath.

"For what?" Starlight asked confused.

"For choosing this job over my friends." Trixie said between sobs.

"No no no. If anyone is to apologize then its me. I'm the one who encouraged you to take this job. You don't know how many nights I cried myself to sleep for that mistake. I didn't consider the fact that I wouldn't be able to meet you on the daily anymore and I'm so so sorry for that." Starlight said as tears began to form in her eyes again.

Trixie was dumbstruck. Her best friend blamed herself for her suffering. She wouldn't accept it. It was her fault too. This wasn't just one pony's fault.

"I guess we're both to blame. Neither of us thought of the consequences." Trixie said as she looked up at the starry sky.

Starlight sat down next to her and they rested their heads against each other while looking at the starry sky.

"You know, you could consider quitting." Starlight said after a few minutes.

"WHAT?! Why would I do that?!" Trixie exclaimed, suddenly protecting her job.

"If you do then you can come back to Ponyville. Come back to your friends. I also have a job offer." Starlight said.

"And what is it?" Trixie asked curiously.

"I was newly made headmare at the school of friendship and the position for school counselor is open. Does that intrigue you?"

Trixie was once again speechless. One: her friend had become headmare of the school of friendship. Two: she was just offered the position of school counselor. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. How could she say no?

"Y-yes! It does!" Trixie exclaimed as she wrapped Starlight into a tight embrace and cried tears of joy. Starlight returned the embrace as they cried tears of pure joy together. They looked at the starry sky before they gave each other a smile. A smile that knew that the worst has passed and the future will be bright.