EPILOGUE
“Witness the amazing talents of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” The boastful, pompous words rang hollow as ponies walked by the blue unicorn, adorned with neither hat nor cape and instead of a stage stood atop of an empty turnip crate. In front of it sat a bowl empty but for a few spare Bits.
To her everlasting shame, Trixie was reduced to performing a few sideshow parlor tricks in order to try to restart her flagging career. She waved her hooves dramatically in a way that used to thrill the crowds…at least, until Ponyville.
She had lost everything: her trademark hat and cape, her home, stage and primary mode of transportation, her reputation and her self-respect. Trixie’s horned glowed as she conjured up some spinning fireworks and crackling rockets. She was so tired that the display came off less awe inspiring and more pathetic. Snickers arose at the pitiful performance. Trixie hung her head.
Then from someplace above and behind her came a sudden fwoosh and a bright rainbow that arced over Trixie’s makeshift stage and soared across the sky. Ponies oohed and awed as the rainbow soared upwards again, thinking it was part of the show. Trixie beamed, her grin forced. Would the pony responsible for this come down and take the credit? Would she or he expose Trixie as a fraud and ruin her again? And why did this look so familiar? The rainbow twirled upwards in a shrinking spiral and it ended with a bright white flash.
The audience stomped their hooves and cheered wildly. “TRIX-IE! TRIX-IE!” The Bits started to drop into the bowl until it was overflowing. Trixie felt her eyes tear up. At last!
She delighted in the cheers and adulation of the crowd until the audience finally faded away. Trixie carefully carried her bowl full of bits back to the tiny shack she had rented till she got back on her hooves. She was just about to walk through the door when a blue blur interposed itself between her and the shack. “Hello, Trixie.”
The cold tone was so icy Trixie literally felt a chill run up her spine. She raised her head and looked into a pair of fuchsia eyes attached to a blue frowning face. “T-trixie remembers you!” She blurted out. “You’re that pegasus from Ponyville!”
“The name’s Rainbow Dash. Remember it.” Rainbow snorted. “I’d say that I hope you appreciate what I did back there, but I know you wouldn’t.”
“You did that…?” Trixie was understandably confused. The last she recalled the cyan pegasus hated her guts.
“That’s not why I came.” Rainbow cut her off coolly. “I came here to give you something.”
Trixie looked around but there was nopony nearby to help. Her magic wasn’t meant to be used in a fight! And she was so tired that she didn’t think she could levitate much more than a feather by this point. “P-please, don’t-! Trixie is—I mean, *I’m* sorry I humiliated you and your friends! Please don’t hurt me!” She crouched down and closed her eyes, covering her head with her hooves. Trixie trembled as she felt something soft gently fall on her back and something else cover her head. She poked one eye open. Then she looked back at herself and her jaw dropped open.
“My hat! My cape!” Trixie practically squealed as she hugged her belongings back to her. She looked back to Rainbow Dash. “Thank you thank you thank you! But why…?”
Rainbow Dash looked hard at Trixie and sighed. “Because…because nopony deserves to be humiliated and reduced to this. You come *close,* but…” she snorted then her voice softened again. “And because I might’ve become like you. Do yourself a favor. Go make some friends. Not fans, friends. You’ll be glad you did.” Rainbow flapped her wings and started to gain some altitude.
With her old outfit back and Rainbow Dash putting some much needed distance between them, Trixie felt a measure of her old arrogance and haughtiness coming back. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has no need for friends, or advice from some brutish pegasus.”
Rainbow Dash turned around, ignoring her. “There’s a griffon hanging around the outskirts of Hoofington. Go look her up. I know she could use a friend too.” Rainbow Dash flew away and didn’t look back.
THE END
“Um, gee, I dunno about this Pinkie Pie…”
“C’mon Fluttershy it’ll be fun! Do you have that Poison Joke?”
“…yes.”
“Well! Take a sniff and then let’s get cracking!”
“Oh, okay…” SNIFF! “WELL, DID IT WORK?”
“Heeheee! Sure did Flutterguy! Now then! And a one and a two and a one, two, three!”
“AHEM…MAHNA MAHNA!”
“Do doo be-do-do!”
“MAHNA MAHNA!”
“Do do-do do!”
“MAHNA MAHNA!”
“Do doo be-do-do be-do-do be-do-do be-do-do-doodle do do do-doo do!”
“…..MAHNA MAHNA!”
Author’s Notes:
Borrowed concepts and characters:
-The bullies Sticks and Stones are from “Ditzy Doo's Dismally Derpy Day” by CLAVDIVS CAESAR
-Ditzy Doo’s full name being Ditzabeth Eleanor Doo and the idea of her and Dinky living with Carrot Top comes from “Life with Derpy” by RadRoss
-Ditzy saying Kaloo kalay is a reference to “Knights of Equestria” by Solaris90
-Rainbow Dash being a bad cook is a reference to any number of fics, including “Worst Bakers in Equestria”
-Rainbow’s full name being Rainbow Miriam Dash comes from the stories by Bobcat
-The incident I mentioned where Zecora fixed Rainbow Dash during a storm in the Everfree Forest is a reference to “No Tame Forest” by PhantomFox
-The reference to Zecora’s homeland is from “The Education of Zecora” by Demetrius
-Twilight’s perspective on the expectations of her comes from Bookish Delight called “Twilight Switch”
-The songs “Life’s A Happy Song,” “Rainbow Connection,” “It’s Not Easy Being Green,” and “Mahna Mahna” are copyrighted to the Muppets and Jim Henson
-My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyrighted to Lauren Faust and Hasbro.
Special thanks to all my readers and reviewers and a super special thanks to Buttersc0tch Sundae, Bookish Delight, Solaris90, and SoundofRainfall for their words of advice, their suggestions and their patience. And to all you Bronies and Pegasisters out there, thanks! And to Lauren Faust and the crew who give us My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, there aren’t enough thanks in the universe! You rock!