Goodbye Forever: Second Chance

Four months had passed since the fiasco back in Ponyville when Twilight had managed to find a way to one-up Trixie for a second time.  No, it wasn’t just the purple natural disaster.  To simply say that Twilight had beaten her would have implied that she had acted alone.  In some bizarre way that only the scathed mare could truly comprehend, Trixie might have actually been somewhat more cheerful about all of this if Twilight had gone solo, but not by much.  This time she had a little ... assistance.

Thanks to the local paper, as well as the occasional small-talk from anypony who happened to be within earshot, so much of their information had been permanently seared within Trixie’s mind that she could have possibly written a biography about everypony who played a part in her downfall.

Trixie could hardly be considered a pony anymore, really.  If one were to ask an onlooker who was lucky enough to spot her - or unlucky depending on your point of view - about the once proud creature that described itself as “Great and Powerful”, they’d speak of a broken mare who seemed so far from being alive, so infinitely detached from the world around her, that she seemed more like a wandering phantom than anything else.

She emerged from the darkness, silently traveling from place to place with no true destination in sight.

Trixie would occasionally find herself plagued by the same question.  “How did she fail to see through Twilight’s cheap tricks?”  As somepony who spent the majority of her brief existence studying how to integrate true magic with onstage theatrics, Trixie should have been able to figure out what Twilight was doing within seconds.  How could she have been so stupid, so careless that she actually fell for it?

At first she blamed the Alicorn Amulet for everything.  After all, the artifact was designed to transform a unicorn into an engine of greed and destruction while simultaneously deteriorating the users mind until it hovered above the edge of insanity.  Logically, it made perfect sense to point hooves at the amulet.  She could have argued, that she wasn’t herself, or that her mind had been polluted with so much dark magic that she couldn’t think straight.

Yes … she definitely could have argued that she was as much a victim as everypony else, but there was one detail that took away any merit that she might have had.  She knew what the amulet would do to her the moment she put it on and yet she didn’t care.  The way she rationalized it, it was just a means to an end.

The far corners of Trixie’s mouth stretched into the form of a smile while she trotted through the vacant streets, tiny crystals of water and ice emblazoned across her weak form.  'It’s a curious thing how some choices seem like a good idea at the time.  Maybe I deserve this.'

Immediately following her retreat from Ponyville, Trixie used most of her remaining bits to buy a train ticket to Vanhoover.  Her intention was to get a new start far to the west.  She’d find a new job, buy a new house, and maybe even make a few friends if she was lucky enough.  Needless to say that Trixie discovered that nothing in life ever goes exactly as planned.  Even after casting her old identity aside, she wasn’t able to find anypony willing to hire her.  No matter where she went, it was always the same answer.

“Sorry miss, but we aren’t hiring right now.”

“Hate to break it to you, but we don’t have any openings at the moment.”

“You can still fill out an application if you want, but we won’t be hiring for another six months.”

With each rejection Trixie’s faith in the city took another hit.  She couldn’t afford to wait.  She was tired of getting by on tossed out leftovers.  It was miracle that she hadn’t gotten sick yet.  Unfortunately for her, the only open slots that she could find were at jobs that completely degraded mares.  It didn’t take long before she made the decision to leave Vanhoover and try her luck elsewhere.

From the San Palomino Desert to the Badlands, and from Dodge Junction over to the Hollow Shades, she walked tirelessly.  It didn’t matter how far she traveled or where she hitch-hiked.  For the life of her she couldn’t find a place stable enough to call home.

Trixie had reached Manehattan with the coming advent of winter.  By that point, she had officially finally given up.  Nothing seemed real anymore; it was as if she was watching somepony elses life from the other side of a cloudy mirror.  Even her body felt like it wasn’t hers anymore.  Necessities such as searching for food and seeking out shelter were slowly beginning to turn into unnecessary pleasantries that she could do without.  She still searched for places to sleep at night and ate whatever scraps that happened to cross her path, but none of it ranked very high on her to-do list.

“What’s the point in going on anymore?” Trixie asked herself while walking through the blizzard that had overtaken Manehattan.  She had no money left, and even if she did she wouldn’t be able to use it since it was Hearths Warming Eve and everypony was closing down shop for the day.  She didn’t have a way to stay warm and she hadn’t eaten in days.  She could have possibly used the snow as a substitute for food, but that would just lower her body heat, not that she cared anymore.

She took a few more wobbly steps and suddenly collapsed against a dumpster.  For the longest time she sat there, completely stone still.  She could have tried to get back up if she wanted too, but why bother?  To live would have meant looking forward to a life of physical and mental turmoil as well as constant ridicule from those around her. Besides, the snow was beginning to feel like a warm blanket anyway.

Minutes later, Trixie found herself being assaulted by a strong gust of wind.  At least, that’s what she assumed was happening.  She couldn’t actually feel it anymore, but she did notice certain objects flying around in the air, such as the newspaper that had found itself attached to the side of her face.

Using the last of her strength, she reached up and studied the parchment.  Her vision was beginning to darken and the words looked foreign in her state of mind, but on the front page she could swear that she saw a picture of Twilight and her friends standing before a crowd of happy looking ponies.

If she had the strength, Trixie would have torn the paper to shreds.  Instead, she had to settle for releasing her hold, allowing it to blow away in the wind.

Trixie’s head slumped over to the side as the world around her faded into darkness.  This was it.  No more struggling.  Now she could finally rest.