//------------------------------// // Ch. 15 - A Piece Restored // Story: The Great and Delicate Trixie // by DogSomeOre //------------------------------// A bustling city with ponies of all kinds greet your eyes. "I really hope this is the one." You think to yourself as you go by sketchy and moderately wealthy ponies. You're not sure how far you've traveled or really where you are anymore, but your determination to find your blue friend has been the only thing that's been keeping you going. You were tipped off by an older stallion back in Manehatten that a blue mare that had a strikingly similar description of Trixie, was all the way here; although you aren't too sure if you believe him but you're grasping for straws at this point. Homeless ponies on the street swing around a sack of bits, hoping that someone will be generous enough to give them any money to help pay for another meal. Dark, decrepit alleyways are seen with unfamiliarity and caution as you walk by each one. According to a lot of the ponies that live here, crime is at an all time high. "Why would anyone want to live here?" You wonder, it certainly doesn't look like any place you've seen in Equestria and it's really out of the way from anywhere near Ponyvile. You stop and look at your surroundings. "Red building with a neon logo of two ponies wrestling." You look up to see what the stallion described to you where Trixie was allegedly by. "I don't like this one bit." You mutter. Heading around behind the building, you enter a tight alley with paranoia rising as you stay on guard for any potential attacks that may come your way. You approach a dirty looking door to your left with an almost unintelligible sign with words that read 'circus show.' "You want in?" A stallion beside the door asks you. By how he looks, you certainly don't want to make any trouble. "Uh yeah. This is where the performers are right?" "You read the sign? Yeah we got all bunch of weirdos ready for your amusement. You want in or not?" His eyes send a shiver down your spine. "Yeah sure." "50 bits." "'50 bits?!' You can't be-" You stop yourself before you get too dramatic. "Just do it Anon, for her." You reach down to your pockets to pull out the required amount of money. "Here." You can tell from the stallions face that he looks satisfied to see those gold coins. "Alright, enjoy." You walk in slowly to see the inside. The walls are rusted and the paint is scraping off, the scent of the building is a mixture of alcohol, odor, and things that your nose has never picked up. You see ponies gathered around in a circle, cheering and chanting at the performers that they're so enamored with. You make your way to the front, slipping by every pony you come across. A pinkish mare with a small foal are doing tricks with each other that look quite unusual to you. By the looks of it, they don't seem to be enjoying themselves. You scan your eyes around to see any sign of Trixie, everywhere you look though are hidden by the many stallions and mares that fill up this place. Being in here is hard enough but the dozens of ponies that look unkept and odd is another hurdle to get over. A few more performances go by with each pony having their own act and introduction. The ring leader that you gather is the boss of all these ponies putting on a show, is standing front and center, ready to announce the next performer. "Well, well, that was quite a performance wasn't it ladies and gentlecolts, well I'll assure you, this next performance will be sure to knock your tails off. She's been new to all this and we're very happy to include her in our family of circus freaks. Only the lowest of the low are able to get in as you know, and this one is most definitely one that has reached rock bottom. From a failed magician, to a bright star in our lineup, everyone welcome, 'The Terrible and Not-so-great, Trixie!'" You look ahead eagerly to see any sign of her, the crowd is as loud as it ever was but you stand there silent with your heart beating fast and hands drenched with sweat. "Come on where is she, where is she!" In all her beautiful glory she trots over. Her head is facing down and she's wearing long clothes that cover up her body. A collar is strapped around her neck as another pony pulls her along. She looks up at the crowd but not with a look of pride and happiness, but rather one of complete and utter numbness. You watch in distress as Trixie is walked around and treated like some kind of object, with the pony holding onto her with a leash commanding her to do magic-, no, just tricks, as akin to a trained mutt. You can't stand to watch anymore as you pile your way past more ponies. Bodyguards stand in the way of you seeing her as they block you from going any further. "Come on, you have to let me through I know her!" You command. "Yeah sure you do and I'm the president of New Mane City." He mocks. You try and push through but the ponies guarding around the circle push you back with force. "Trixie! Trixie!" You yell, she doesn't look your way and seemingly doesn't even notice you as she still carries out whatever tasks the other pony has her do. "Damnit just let me through!" You keep trying to push through. They warn you that they'll throw you out if you keep this up but right now, you couldn't care less. Eventually, the guards pick you up by your arms, dragging you out in the process. "No you don't understand! She's my friend, I need to see her!" The guards don't seem to listen as they stay silent, still dragging you. You're thrown out onto the street and the door closes shut with a click. "Ugh, it's locked." You try and jam it open, though as rusty and broken as this door looks, it won't budge. "Her wagon, it has to be around here somewhere, I'll just wait for her there." You walk around to see any small portable house in the distance, eventually you come across that old familiar carrier you've come used to seeing; you decide to wait for her here, sitting on one of the steps leading to door, you know this is probably the safest place to actually speak to her. Hours go by as your mind stays on Trixie. It's almost like a bad dream seeing her in such a dark place such as this but hopefully you'll be able to find out what lead her to coming here in the first place. More and more time goes on with still no sign of her. It's getting dark out and you expected Trixie to have come back by now. You get up and head back toward the last place you saw her at. The door is still shut tight and you don't hear any sounds of frantic ponies cheering inside; you look around to find any place she would've gotten to but it's so dark out, that your eyes are having a hard time finding anything. Going around the alleyway, a bright, flickering exit sign catches your attention. You hear voices coming from inside but it's a little muffled from where you're standing, you try for the handle of the door. "Seriously, is every door locked around here?" With no way to get in, you put your ear against the metal square to see if you can hear whoever is talking in there. "I said forward, forward! Gah can't your dumb flank do anything right? You don't want what happened last time do you, Bluey?" A gruff feminine voice is heard, with an accent you aren't accustomed to knowing. "I-I'm trying, it's just, really hard is all." "Trixie?" You say in a whisper. "It isn't hard if you're doing it right! The boss put me in charge of you and I'm not about to let some scatter brain ruin everything I've built! Now again, forward!" Hoof steps are heard with a loud pitter patter hitting the concrete floor inside. Nobody is talking anymore and it's all just different audible sounds. "Ah!" You hear Trixie yell, as well as a loud 'woosh' hitting down onto something. "No, no, no! Again, again!" You hear the gruff voice say, with a few more 'woosh' sounds coming from the room. You take your ear away from the door and start knocking to get anyone's attention. "Gah, it's probably the boss, just do what your supposed to do and practice what I've taught you." You hear a key enter on the other side as the door handle opens slowly; the face of the pony is the one you saw back at the performance, the one that had Trixie by a leash. "Hello mister-" She stops as she looks at you with a semi-threatening look. "Who the heck are you?" "Not the boss." You respond. "What are you doing here? The show is over. Come back in two days." She says blankly. "Is Trixie in there?" You ignore her. "'Trixie?' You mean Bluey? Why would you want to know?" By the tone in her voice she really does not seem like the friendly type. "I'm her.... manager" You think of anything. "Nice try wise guy but I'm the supervisor around here." "Really Anon, 'manager?' That's the best you could come up with?" "Look, can I just see her for a minute?" You ask not really as a question, but more so as a command. "How bout this two arms, you get far away from here as possible and we won't have any trouble. Understood?" "A-A-Anon?" A voice calls out from behind the door. The mare looks back at her with menacing eyes. "I said keep practicing! I'm handling this!" While she isn't looking you pry open the door with all your strength and make your way past her. Beyond the room you finally have a clear view of your bright, blue unicorn; she's still wearing long clothes that cover up almost every part of her. "Trixie!" "Anon!" Her eyes light up with joy and her face turns into a full smile as she sprints for you. You feel the embrace of a warm sensation as she grips you tightly with her front hooves, standing on her back hooves in the process. She catches you a bit off guard but you wrap your arms around her soft back. "Oh Anon." Trixie's voice softly says, her chin is resting on your shoulder as she stays into the comforting hug you two have formed. "Trixie... I've been looking everywhere for you. When you left with not so much as a word I...." "You came looking for me all this way? I thought you would've forgot about me." She inquires assuredly. "Trixie?! Stop fooling around and get back to practice! You know what the boss will do if finds you slacking off!" The gruff mare says. You let go of Trixie and look behind you to face the rude mare. "We're leaving." You state. "A-Anon?!" You grab Trixie by the hoof and pull her out of whatever awful place she'd been in. You walk past the mare eying her with a threatening glare as you pass the door. "Anon, wait." Trixie comes to a halt as the two of you stop around the alley. "Trixie not now, we have to get out of here, back to Canterlot; your friends are all worried sick and-" "I can't Anon." She looks up at you with a frown, her tone is stern. "What do you mean? This is no place for you Trixie. Come on we can go-" "Stop." Trixie looks you straight in the eye with a sincere face. "I can't go back, not now, not ever. This is where I belong, where I should stay; I can't change that now." "I... don't understand." Your mind is full of confusion as to why she'd come here in the first place; away from what she built herself on, from her true passion in life. You just don't get it. "And I don't know if I have the courage to explain it to you." She continues. "You do. You can tell me anything Trixie. I'm here for you, I came all this way to find you; I made the mistake of leaving you when you needed someone the most and I'm sorry." "Anon, just please... stop...." She looks away from you and in a brief moment, she trots away. "Trixie!" You yell out, you hear her hoof steps echoing in the night as she runs off. You make your way back to her wagon and see no lights are on inside. Trixie is sitting on the snow covered grass just next to her home. You look down at her as she looks at the ground. "I just... don't get it..." "Trixie, what do you mean? We can go back to where we left off, go somewhere better then here; I know you, you're the 'Great and Powerful Trixie.' So come on." "You don't know anything about me!" Trixie fights back, her voice sounding shaky and tired. "Don't you get it? I came to this place to get away.... away from everything, from you." "But why? I thought everything was fine, that you were fine. If it's something I can help you with just-" "You can't help me with anything alright!?" You stay silent as Trixie yells at you with frustration, her voice is so wobbly and her body is tensed up. "I lied to you... about everything.... ugh why did you have to come find me.... why can't you just stop hurting me.... I can't get close to you.... I can't look at you... or else...." "I never meant to hurt you Trixie. I wanted you to be better, I wanted to help you." "Why Anon.... why? I was so mean to you when you met me.... you helped me with so much and yet.... you just don't know how much I...." She slams her hoof into the snow. "This is so awful! Why can't I do anything right, why do I have to ruin everything! If I was never born you'd of never known me, you'd of never saw me, I wouldn't be such a burden.... then why. Why, why, why, why!" She slams her hoof down with each word, her voice is at the breaking point of collapse and her throat sounds so dry. You're so upset and confused. All this time you've known her and you still haven't found the reason as to 'why.' She's right, ever since you met her you've been doing everything you could just to help her, to be with her, to figure out her problems, but did you ever? You thought you were doing everything correct but with what Applejack said.... have you truly ever known her? "I can help you Trixie... just let me in... I... don't know why I care about you so much, ok? I just.... do." "That doesn't make any sense. Why would anyone care about me? Who would ever want to be my friend? All of a sudden some random creature comes stumbling into my life and they just want to help me?!... I don't understand." She's exhausted and her voice is hollow. She's going through so much different emotions that you can't wrap your head around her true personality. "I know what happened in Ponyvile, it... it wasn't how it was supposed to go." She freezes for a moment and stops moving her body, her breathing speeds up a bit but she's still face planted to the snow. "I may not have the full story, but I know enough that all you wanted was to make ponies happy, to make them see who you really are, the mare you aspire to be. What happened wasn't your fault, and I know deep down in my heart that you're a great pony, no, an amazing magician, with talents unicorns from all over would be jealous of. Three weeks of trying to find you; I wouldn't rest until I did. No matter what you think Trixie, I really do care about you, and that's.... that's just something that isn't going to change." Moments pass without a word exchanged from you and her both. The snow falls down lightly onto the soft grass below, the night is calm, if not a bit eerie. Did you say the right words? Do the right thing? You look upon her with nervous eyes. "The truth is Anon...." After what feels like an eternity, her voice comes to a soft mellow. "You mean the world to me.... you mean everything.... to me." She looks up at you slowly, tears are strung in her eyelids as she holds back the onslaught of streams that want so desperately to leave her. "Coming to my aid, walking me back home, fending off that diamond dog, wanting to learn more about me... My heart felt something I never thought I'd ever feel. My life felt like it finally meant something.... like I had somebody I could finally share with adventures with, my feelings with... I never had any friends growing up. My parents couldn't care less whether I succeeded or not, and I loathed myself for the longest time; trying to do anything to finally feel appreciated. And then you came along.... I never wanted you to leave me.... I never wanted to say goodbye... I never wanted to get close to you because I was so... scared.... scared of losing you.... I never had the courage to tell you because I didn't want you to see me like this.... I never was great and powerful, I was just me.... Trixie. That's all I've ever been." She looks at you with a sad and scared look. It must have been really hard for her to say all that. "Not to me." You look straight at her with confidence and heartfelt determination. "You were never just another pony. You will never stop being important to me, never stop being someone that I'll look out for through all the hard times you'll face. Because to me, you aren't just great a pony, you're a perfect mare." With vigor and soft force, hooves wrap around you in the dark night with loving and comfort. A soft, longing tongue intertwines inside your mouth as your eyes widen to see Trixie's closed. Her face pouring down tears with every second that goes by. She holds onto you as both of your tongues flip and twist around one another with intimacy, her breath feels warm and hot on this cold night; her heart beating like a racehorse that just won first place and her snout is scrunched up tightly to your nose. This is the moment she had been waiting for, that you had been waiting for, all this time, with every day that passed by, all she wanted was to be in your grasp from then, to now. Your tongues unlock from each other slowly as you open your eyes to look that gorgeous mare in the face. Her breathing is heavy and intimate and her mouth gasps for air. She looks at you so gracefully, her cheeks have a slight red tint and she doesn't turn away from you for a second. "All my life I thought I'd never find somebody to hold onto, somebody to look after and care for, somebody to finally care so much about.... I think I love you Anon." So soft and like a whisper, her voice along with her words, are so beautiful. "Please... don't ever leave me." The sentence slices through you like butter. "Never Trixie. I'll always be with you, forever." More and more streams come down as her soft, moist mouth comes in contact with yours once again. You want this moment to last forever. As if deja vu hit you again, you think to yourself, that you've finally found someone to hold onto.