Trixie was tired.

She was tired of repeating the same mistakes. She was tired of doing the same mind-numbing things over and over again. She was tired of the days becoming the exact same. She was tired of her magic shows constantly failing.

She didn't even enjoy doing the shows anymore. She'd burnt herself out long ago, but she forced herself to keep doing them so that she could make a living. It was barely enough to keep her afloat now.

Trixie had gone through the motions so many times that she had begun to detest her performances. They were so uninteresting and unfufilling, but she couldn't find the strength to begin doing something new. This was the one thing she had tried that worked out for her, so she clung onto it for dear life.

Though she got her cutie mark after doing a magic trick, she had tried many other things as a filly and even early into adulthood. Every single time she would lose interest in it and discard it, the assorted items that came along with the hobbies piling up unused in her childhood home. She became detached even quicker as time went on, some of her pastimes only lasting a few days.

She eventually rediscovered her love of magic tricks, and that soon became the driving force in her life. Her traveling act filled her for awhile, leaving her content. It grew to satisfy her less and less over time.

She began to want more out of her life than just being a magician. She wanted to feel loved, like she was deserving of the "great and powerful" title that she had bestowed upon herself. That had been a sham. A wall she put up so she could hide her true feelings behind a veil of arrogance.

Trixie began venturing out more, traveling farther and attempting to connect with other ponies. Her conceited nature turned off most, but there were a select few that she let in, lowering her barriers so they could know her true self.

They didn't like her as much as she didn't like herself. She was impulsive, always doing what benefited her and her alone. She was so cruel to her friends, at times reducing them to tears over the littlest things. Everytime she would apologize, but she would just end up hurting them again, whether through her words or through her actions.

She was never going to change. No matter how hard she tried to become better she would remain in the same vicious loop. She would always destroy what she built up, pushing those who she cared about further away until they left.

And everypony had left. That was why Trixie was sitting on the edge of a bridge, watching her hooves dangle precariously. She stared at her distorted reflection in the water below, the periodic ripple warping it more.

The last of her friends had finally grown tired of her constant bullshit. They all gave her the same pointless speech about how she needed to get better and how she would lose everypony if she kept acting the same. Only one of those ended up happening.

She was so tired of the way she was. The constant lies, the constant manipulation. She used other ponies to get whatever selfish thing she wanted in the moment and threw them away when they were no longer needed. She never really cared for anypony else. They were just pawns to her.

She cared for nopony but herself. Maybe the act she put on wasn't as much of an act as she thought it was. What she thought was another one of her illusions was actually a mirror into who she truly was. A cracked, disgusting mirror.

A shiver ran up her spine, though it didn't come from the frigid air. She was back in the sqme place that she had crawled out of in years past. She was alone and doomed to repeat this cycle again. There had to be a way out. She had to put an end to this. Either she kept hurting herself and everypony around her or she could stop herself for the final time.

The water looked so inviting, especially from this high up.

She hadn't noticed the birds that sat on the opposite edge of the bridge until they flew away. She was jealous of how bright they were in contrast to herself.

Trixie rose to her hooves and steeled herself. She took one last look at the world she was leaving behind. Everything appeared grey and lifeless, just like she was about to be. Smiling, she took the plunge and jumped.

When she hit the water it was like a bolt of electricity to her brain. It chilled her to bone as she sank, getting further and further from the air. It instantly became harder to breathe. She had to stop her reflexes from pulling her back up, the water succeeding in dragging her down. This was it. It was all going to be over soon.

The world began to fade away along with the oxygen, and as Trixie's eyes began to lose their life she asked herself one question. Was it worth it?

Everything she had done, from the magic shows to the Ursa Minor to the amulet to all the times she brought pain to those who cared for her. What was it all for? Was it all just meaningless in the grand scheme of things? Would everypony forget her?

She knew that if she died in this river, ponies would only recall the good aspects of her, playing them up as there were so few of them. They would herald her as a troubled soul who deserved far better than she got, even if she knew that none of that was true.

She'd rather be misremembered and adored than alive and hated. That was the thought that ran through her head as the last bubbles of air left her lungs, her breath coming out for the final time while her body went limp.

Author's Note