Doubt

by DitsyHooves

Chapter 1: The Journey

CHAPTER ONE
THE JOURNEY

She had begun to hate the sound of her own hooves. The very hooves that, merely two days ago, had been perfectly polished and comfortable, but now ached with almost the same intensity as her distaste for the chipped polish and scuffed edges. Those hooves had been trudging along this desolate road for almost a day now, and, she feared, would not be able to go on for much longer.

She had taken the closest path that she could find when escaping from that purple unicorn and her cronies, and it had turned out to be a bad decision. She was travelling through a desert that, without the care of the pegasi, was barren and fruitless. The worn and nearly invisible dirt path was surrounded only by more dirt, rocks, and the occasional patch of withered grass. Clack, clack, clack. How she hated that noise, the noise of her attempts to journey to Canterlot, the noise of her hooves hitting the path that was her only hope. The sun beat down hard on the unicorn's back, the back that was caked in a layer of dirt and sweat, when, only yesterday, it had been silky and cool.

She sighed loudly, the sound of her breath breaking through the silence like a razor. There was no other sound in this desert, and she was glad to know that she had not become deaf during her travels. Earlier that very day, she had been trotting along this path, thinking about herself, a wicked smile across her face as she did so. Perhaps humming some tunes of her own invention, perfectly content, knowing what awaited her. But she had not expected it to take so unbearably long. Not expected that her sly grin would be replaced by a defeated frown, crowned with sagging eyelids and downcast eyes. Not expected that her regal head would sag as it did in the hot day's sun, that she would become as lowly as the next earth pony to pass by.

But nopony passed by. Nopony to praise her, not even simply pay attention to her, the greatest unicorn in the land. If those idiot foals hadn't brought that Ursa to town... She thought bitterly to herself, as memories flooded her tired brain as she thought back, back to...

"Now, now, dear, stay away from that cave"

"Why, mother?" A small, blue unicorn responded, her face lighting up as she stopped her curious drifting towards a dark cave that sat a while away from the road where their carriage rested. The carriage's right front wheel was missing, floating in front of a gray pony, who was levitating another tool next to it while eyeing it distastefully, trying to fix it. But the blue unicorn had gotten what she needed. Her mother had finally noticed her. Just what she wanted.

"There might be a creature in there, one of those beastly Ursa Majors. I don't know, figure it out and leave me alone, won't you?" The head of a regal, Canterlot unicorn turned on it's long, graceful neck to stare down at her daughter. It must have been the first time in days, no, weeks, that this beautiful unicorn had turned to even glance at her own flesh and blood, at the thing that longed for her stare, her praise, her love. But never got it.

The little blue unicorn looked down at her hooves, pawing the ground nervously. Her shiny silver hair made contact with the ground as she lowered her head in shame. She couldn't miss this opportunity. "But, mother, if I were to-" She blurted out, her head whipping upwards, trying to make contact with those distant eyes. The ones that regarded her with so much distaste, the ones that always had something else to look at.

"You'd die. Now shut up; Mama's busy" The mare turned her head away and showed her daughter only the back of her expensive hairstyle, ignoring the unicorn who looked as though she was about to cry.

Trixie raised her head and focused her tired, faded eyes on the path she had chosen in her haste to escape those inferior beings, the citizens of Ponyville. The rough and unused dirt road that was taking her to Canterlot looked long and empty, almost exactly like the hours spent walking on it. How could the Great and Powerful Trixie possibly be stuck here, travelling like a crude little Earth Pony on this horridly pedestrian pathway? Ponyville. That was why.

She stopped, her mangled hooves bringing up a small cloud of dust as they thudded to the ground. She could do nothing now but long for rest, for relaxation, for escape. If she had had the energy, she would have been repulsed by the disgusting dirt, and would have taken the time to at least pull over onto the dry grass by the edge of her lonely road, although, after taking a good look at that sorry excuse for a bed, she decided that it did not offer many benefits compared to her dust resting place. Her legs, shaking violently from pain and exhaustion, finally gave out under her, and she fell to the ground, bringing up even more dust, which settled in her bedraggled mane and cape.

Lying on the ground, Trixie’s mane fell in front of her face, and her cape slid right off of her body and onto the dirt by her rugged hooves. It was the only object that had survived the wreck of her old stage, and was her only possession now. Could that torn and dirt caked piece of fabric once have been a cape? If she had not been the very one to wear it, she would have doubted it. Some parts might still be in decent condition, the design visible, maybe the beautiful jewel still untarnished, but her straggly mane blocked most of her vision, the once sleek and shiny hairs that had become disordered and dirty. The beautiful unicorn seemed no more, replaced by a vagabond ruffian.

She sighed deeply, half in relief, and half in anger, despair, and loneliness. If only she had had her cart, her stage, her sanctuary. Her plush bed with silk sheets and her pillow stuffed with cloud, her possessions and her prides, her memories and her friends. How she longed for the bed that, for so many nights, she had not appreciated. But they were all gone. Thanks to those dimwitted unicorn foals, she thought angrily, her brain now going full flow using her small reserves of energy, and her fuel of hatred.

They had caused this. They had reduced the most powerful, most beautiful, most amazing unicorn in all of Equestria, to this snivelling pile of…

No, thought Trixie bitterly as her eyelids closed and her muscles relaxed. Trixie still has the magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie. Trixie is no less. Trixie is still greater than all the ponies in Equestria, than that Twilight character, her eye muscles became tense and her teeth bared as she let loose a growl of frustration at the very thought of that unicorn, more powerful, even, than the Alicorns themselves!.

But if you’re oh-so powerful, Trixie, whispered a snide voice, hidden in the back of her head, the one that had chided her since the day she had donned the her title, then why couldn’t you get rid of that Ursa Minor?

That part of Trixie knew it was right. Knew that Trixie was just a lair. But the other side of Trixie was too headstrong, too powerfully had it manifested over the years, especially the early ones. It was in charge. But tears still nearly escaped from Trixie’s eyes as a flood of images flowed through her brain. The way that purple unicorn had saved the town, the town that looked at her with adoration, and at her with raw hatred in their eyes. Those eyes that Trixie thought she would never have to see again, not since she had left them. She remembered her useless tricks against the beast, then the other unicorn's... She had failed to do it. Had failed to have magic as powerful as- No! Just because Trixie does not have the tricks of a run-of-the-mill pony such as that does not mean that Trixie does not still have her amazing, show-stopping abilities!

And the mare’s thoughts, so full of lies, selfishness, and confidence, the spawn of years of being ignored, the thirst for attention, were silenced. Comforted, and still so sure of her superiority, she began to drift off, a confident smile making it's way onto her face.

But Trixie soon realized that see was too uncomfortable to sleep. The dirt did not make a very good bed, and the many pebbles jammed under Trixie’s limp figure were not exactly welcome there. Tired as she was, her standards were so high that she forced herself to shift, but to no avail. She signed loudly; she knew exactly what she must do.

She shifted her body weight over so that she rotated onto her sore hooves, and, shaking profusely, her legs managed to haul her body a few inches off of the path. It was agonizing. Her legs could simply not hold her for much longer now that they had once again started to burn. Using the only energy she could possibly find in her bedraggled and exhausted form, she concentrated on her horn, on the very energy of her body travelling to it, collecting inside of it, on its presence and its power. She thought of the dirt beneath her, and then, of grass. Of thick, soft green grass. On the way it felt, the way it smelled, the richness of its being. She thought of all those feelings, and directed them to the dirt, seeing in her mind’s eye a patch slowly making its way through the dirt, feeling it do so, forcing it to do so.

Through her eyelids, Trixie saw a small amount of light coming from above. The light cascaded over her rugged form, casting shadows onto the ground, and causing her body to glow with the aura of her magic, the magic that she knew was her very life. And she could see it coming from below, feel the glow radiating off of the dirt.

She could feel the small amount of energy she had fail her, and her tormented legs collapsed under the weight of her body, splaying themselves onto the ground, where they met a soft, wet patch of grass. Her body, cooled and cradled by the grass created out of her very essence, slipped into a troubled sleep.

Author's Note:
While the first chapter may not have exactly been a hilarious thriller,
their will be much more comedy, action, and plot development
in later chapters

Thanks for reading, and if you continue on (which I suggest you do) then
Enjoy!

Comments

[DitsyHooves]

After reading, please take into account that...

This is my first Fan-fiction, and is not, to me, an amazing feat
This story does have a developing plot and a moral at the end
I will take suggestions left in the comments for improvement, story events, etc.
And yes, this will have many more chapters!

Thank you for reading! (But it's not like the GAPT needs YOUR respect, anyway!)

P.S. Please point out any mistakes! Thanks!

[Shadikal12345]

I'll add this to my 'Read Later' list. I've gone over the first chapter pretty quickly; just skim reading. It's pretty good otherwise.

[ultra8]

Not a bad start, consider your self "watched".

[djElectrOctavia]

Not mah kindor thang. +1 liek for efort thoe

[SuperChaosKG]

Comedy?

That sad, sad, chapter. Ignorance of love. All alone in s scorching desert.

*deep breath*

AND YOU HAVE THE BALLS TO CALL THIS A COMEDY?!